LeBron James says he is just chilling after the end of his 23rd NBA season, and he isn’t spending time thinking about his future.
“I’m still in the moment of just taking my time,” LeBron said on the latest episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash (hat tip Dave McMenamin of ESPN). “I haven’t even really thought about it too much. Obviously, I understand that I’m a free agent and I can control my own destiny... but like, I haven’t even really got to that point. I haven’t even taken my family vacation yet, which is going to happen after Memorial Day. That’s kind of the thing at the forefront of my mind.”
LeBron may not be thinking about it, but the rest of the league is.
LeBron knows this isn’t 2010 anymore, when he could make “the decision” on July 8 — at least 2/3 of free agency is done in handshake deals before free agency opens on July 1, a league source told NBC Sports a couple of years ago. By the time the Summer League starts (July 9 this year), all the major dominoes will have fallen, and teams are just filling out their rosters.
LeBron, for his part, does not want to be rushed.
“I think at some point in June, late June, as July rolls around, free agency starts to get going, and as July rolls around and maybe into August, we’ll start to kind of get a feel of what my future may look like,” LeBron said on his podcast.
LeBron would not commit to returning to play a record 24th NBA season, he can just retire, but the expectation in league circles remains that he will play one more season.
It’s also much more likely we know where he plays that season by around the NBA Draft (June 23) or by July 1 than it is under LeBron’s more casual timeline. He needs to wait out the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade situation — that is the big domino that must fall first for most free agents — but after that, things will move quickly. While LeBron is a huge name and the biggest brand on the board, and he’s still an All-Star-level player at age 41, if he wants to prioritize winning (as he has said), then he is going to be more like the third-best player on whatever team he chooses. He accepted that role for the Lakers’ best stretch of last season (in March) and he thrived in it. The fact that recently he liked an Instagram post about him returning to Cleveland only added fuel to the speculation he wants to end his career where he began it.
The other big question: How big a pay cut is LeBron willing to take? That may be the biggest question about where he lands.
He’s definitely taking less than the $56.2 million he made last season. The problem is that a lot of the teams he is linked to — Cleveland, Golden State, New York, Denver — can offer only a veteran minimum of $3.9 million. It is possible one those teams could make moves open up a small exception, the taxpayer mid-level exception next season is $6 million. (While those teams could, in theory, work out a sign-and-trade with the Lakers to get LeBron more money, those teams are not going to want to give up a quality player to make this work, and the Lakers are only getting involved in a sign-and-trade if they get something back they want.)
LeBron could re-sign to stay with the Lakers, and they could offer him more money ($25-$30 million) on a one-year contract. The Lakers plan to re-sign Austin Reaves and then remake the roster to better fit Luka Doncic’s playing style. LeBron has to fit into that roster reshaping, not be at the heart of it. Also, if winning is the ultimate priority, he just got an up-close look at how far the Lakers are away from the Thunder, even if Doncic had played in that series. If a shot at another ring is the highest priority, are the Lakers his choice? Of course, in reality, it’s more nuanced than that, and it includes factoring in being close to his family and much more.
Whatever LeBron decides, expect it to happen faster than the casual timeline he laid out on his podcast.
