The Los Angeles Lakers re-signed superstar LeBron James to a two-year contract on Saturday worth just over $101 million. It was about $3 million less than he could have taken, but it was an important distinction as the Lakers now sit below the dreaded second apron of $188.9 million with a full 15-man roster.
James initially told the Lakers that he would take a larger pay cut if it meant landing one of the premier free agents like Klay Thompson or DeMar DeRozan. However, both players wound up signing elsewhere and James opted to take as close to a maximum contract as he could. But by him taking a few million less, he has given the Lakers a huge sigh of relief.
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement has a highly-punitive second apron that makes most moves virtually impossible and drops a future first-round pick to the end of the round regardless of where the team finishes in the standings. By the Lakers avoiding the second apron, their 2032 first-round pick remains unaffected and it’s one that they could begin trading next summer.
That’s just the start of the benefits L.A. received by James’ pay cut. They now, in theory, could clear enough room to sign a taxpayer mid-level exception. That would have gone away with the second apron. If the Lakers can find teams willing to take on two minimum players, that should be enough to give L.A. a taxpayer MLE to bring in a new player.
Reports have already indicated that the Lakers are interested in both Gary Trent Jr. and Spencer Dinwiddie if they are able to do that.
Another punishment of the second apron is the inability to aggregate player salaries in a trade. That means L.A. would only be able to send out one contract at a time in a trade and would not be allowed to take in more than they send out by even one dollar.
L.A. still cannot take in more than they send out — by about $45K — but they can aggregate player salaries. So if they wanted to trade for a $30 million player, they could so long as they aggregate enough salaries to get over $30 million and trade with a team that does not have the same restrictions.
Regardless, the bottom line of James taking less to help the Lakers avoid the second apron is that is gives Rob Pelinka more flexibility to make moves to improve the roster. Now it will be up to him to do so.
LeBron James discusses Lakers’ lack of roster movement
The Lakers 15-man roster look eerily similar to the team that took the court last season and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. However, LeBron James’ mindset has not changed. He plans to work to get better every day and compete with a new system from head coach JJ Redick.
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