The Lakers have a lot on their plate right now, chief among them being the doubts surrounding LeBron James' contract situation. According to reports, the NBA's all-time scoring champion has found a solution, but not without conditions. Let's take a look.
In due circumstances, LeBron James is willing to accept a pay cut.
LeBron James may be willing to agree to a salary cut to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, but only if it helps the team get an influential player on the free agent market, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday. James reportedly told the Lakers that if they could sign an influential player, he was open to the idea of a lower salary to make the move possible. To be clear, if James agrees to do so, the Lakers would theoretically have some leeway when using the full mid-range exception, which is worth about $13 million.
In response to ESPN's report, Wernarovskis said, "There's a feeling that LeBron James might really be increasing year over year, but he told the Lakers that if they can find an impactful player in the mid-range exception of about $13 million a year, whether it's Klay Thompson, James Harden, or Jonas Valanciunas, maybe a couple of others, because this is not a star-studded free agent, he's going to reduce the amount of his contract, So that the Lakers can add this exception to their payroll. ”