After the NBA free agent market opened, it was like a battlefield, and the most concerned of this was LeBron James's jump out of the contract, according to reports, he was willing to take a salary cut to help the team get a $12.9 million full middle-class special contract for reinforcement, of course, Wins' agent Rich Paul also revealed to the media that the premise for James to accept the salary cut is that the Lakers can get Harden, Klay, Valanciunas through this special case, and if it can't be completed, it is still a contract extension with a maximum salary, The deadline for the Lakers is about a week before the start of the U.S. men's basketball Olympic training camp on July 7, which is also the end of the free market pause, and all verbal agreements will be signed in paper contracts starting on the 7th.
Time waits for no one, the situation in the NBA free agent market is changing rapidly, as of July 2, Harden has renewed his contract with the Clippers, Valanciunas joined the Wizards, Klay joined the Mavericks, and the Lakers did not grab any of the players named by Richie, and another point is that on July 1, the Lakers signed a 4-year 32 million contract extension with Christie (how it is implemented is unknown), which makes the Lakers' salary space more tight.
Let's first calculate according to Christie's average annual salary of $8 million, Reddish, Hayes, Wood and other players with player options have all chosen to execute their contracts, assuming that the Lakers sign Bronny with a formal contract or a two-way contract, the team's roster has reached 14 without James, they are Davis ($43.21 million), Russell ($18.69 million), Hachimura ($17 million), Reaves ($12.97 million), Vincent ($11 million), Vanderbilt ($10.71 million), Schifino ($3.87 million), Wood ($3.03 million), Hayes ($2.46 million), Reddish ($2.46 million), Christie (?) Not sure exactly how it will be executed), Lewis ($1.89 million), the total salary has reached 135.28 million, and then Knecht and Bronny, whose rookie contracts will not count towards the salary cap next season.
At present, James can sign a maximum salary contract of $162 million for 3 years, with a veto right on the transaction, if the salary is cut and the direct loss of the contract for one year will reach about $23 million, and no one can say what will happen this year, the NBA's money is in the bag, James is 40 years old, the potential injury is huge, if he is injured, the loss is directly hundreds of millions, of course, these losses James can accept, according to the 2024 Forbes wealth list, James is currently ranked 2477th in the world with a net worth of $1.2 billion, ranking fourth among global athletes, only lower than Ronaldo, Jon Ram, Messi, and the NBA salary only accounts for one-third of his income, and his off-court commercial endorsement income is the majority, with an annual endorsement income of more than $80 million in 2023, ranking first among athletes in the world, which is why Lao Zhan cares extremely much about on-court performance and performance, because the influence on the court is directly linked to off-court commercial interests, imagine if he wins another championship, the influence will reach its peak.
Judging from the situation in the first two days of free agency, many experts have predicted that James may have a hard time accepting a salary cut, but now there are some strong players on the free market who can make a difference in the game, and they will definitely make James excited, including the following three.
Miles Bridges
Through a season of redemption, Myles Bridges finally reintegrated into the league, his contract last season was $7.92 million, and the statistics handed over showed that he played in 69 games, averaging 21 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 37 minutes per game, according to reports, he is ready to pursue a multi-year contract with an annual salary of more than 30 million, but he is certainly not the first choice among the current salary space and competitive teams, and the Hornets also want to keep Bridges, but they only have $20 million in salary space, So he may become a new case every offseason where those arrogant and high-salary players who are ruthlessly slapped by the market have to choose a middle-class contract in order to regain their value, if Bridges gets to this point, then the Lakers' opportunity will come, because his agent is Rich Paul, over the years, Richie has operated too many related players who are eager to play for the Lakers in order to help James, including Troy Brown, Lonnie Walker, Vanderbilt, and Prince all joined the Lakers in this model, Los Angeles has the most spotlight in the country, and Bridges really has a chance of joining the Lakers if he wants to get a big contract.
DeRozan
The Chicago Bulls have begun a rebuilding plan, and DeRozan is not on the same trajectory as the team, but compared to negative assets like LaVine and Lonzo Ball, DeRozan is a good asset. He averaged 24 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 37 minutes per game last season, and he still maintains a very good competitive condition at the age of 34, according to reports, the Lakers have been in contact with his agent Aaron Goodwin, but the Lakers are facing many difficulties, first of all, a full middle-class contract is completely inconsistent with DeRozan's value, and there will still be many teams to give DeRozan a contract of more than $30 million, his experience and hard solution ability are what the championship team needs most, and the Los Angeles Lakers' championship competitiveness is seriously insufficient, even if DeRozan goes to the Lakers in order to realize his dream of the championship, it is not the best choice, so DeRozan is a beauty, very attractive, but hard to come by the Lakers.
Jerami Grant
In addition to free agency and trade stars, Portland supermarket will open soon, Rich Paul's Jeramy Grant has entered the Lakers' trade target, and the two sides have started trade talks, Grant played 54 games with the Trail Blazers last season, Averaged 21 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 34 minutes per game, his all-round performance on the offensive end provided strong scoring help to the Lakers, his contract lasts until 2029, and there is a major conflict with the Trail Blazers' rebuilding plan, he will be 30 years old next season, with a salary of $29 million, it should be said that it is a more valuable time for Grant to trade, as he gets older, the contract with a high salary becomes more and more cumbersome, which is also an opportunity for the Lakers, but there is no potential rookie in the Lakers at present, and there is only a first-round pick in 2029 and 31 in the future, Russell, Vincent, Vanderbilt, Hachimura These chips can impress the Trail Blazers is the key, if Grant can join the Lakers, then James will most likely sacrifice his salary to continue to strengthen.
Rich Paul's free agents also include Alec Box, Gary Trent Jr., Prince, Hortontucker, the strength and level of these players will never make James take a salary cut, just like fans joked, the Los Angeles Lakers' consistent strategy is to have all intentions, explore trades, get nothing, focus on buyouts, this summer's arms race is very restrained by the second local tyrant line, but I still hope that the Lakers management can have a bright operation and do their best to make the team stronger.