The Los Angeles Lakers and the star eaves, Lebron Jamesreached an agreement Wednesday for a 2-year, $97.1 million contract extension, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
The deal will also have an option for the 2024-25 season. Let us remember that James was on his way to what was his last campaign under contract, for which the high command of the Los Angeles team had as one of his priorities to be able to ensure his permanence as soon as possible.
This deal also makes “King James” the player with the most guaranteed money in league history, surpassing Kevin Durant with earnings of $532 million. There has not been a player who has secured more money in his contracts in the best basketball in the world.
LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1M extension, including a player option for the 2024-2025 season, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/f6AmRNEOre
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 17, 2022
From a financial point of view, this agreement is absolutely spectacular for LeBron, since we are talking about a 37-year-old player who has suffered several physical problems recently, for which securing his last big contract was something he could not pass up.
The problem for LeBron comes from the sports side, since the Lakers at the moment do not look like a team capable of competing for the title in the 2022-23 season. Having a healthy James and Anthony Davis will of course put the Darvin Ham-led team in a better position than they were in their nightmare 2021-22 campaign, but we’ve already seen that these two players have become highly prone to injury. injuries.
Most guaranteed career earnings (millions):
$532 — LeBron James
$499—Kevin Durant
$470 — Steph Curry
$450—Damian Lillard— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 17, 2022
Assuming LeBron James and Anthony Davis play at their best next season, it’s still hard to imagine the Lakers beating teams like Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers (if they have Leonard and George), Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks to name just a few. Not to mention that the Timberwolves and Grizzlies are also set to be strong players.
The Lakers will need new coach Ham to better integrate Russell Westbrook into the team, who despite his averages of 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists, never looked comfortable under Frank Vogel.
Congratulations @KingJames on your 2 year 97.1M dollar extension and becoming the highest paid player in the history of the NBA! #klutch pic.twitter.com/FAF3JaA0zs
— Klutch Sports Group (@KlutchSports) August 17, 2022
Another alternative could be looking to trade Westbrook for Kyrie Irving, though for that they will likely have to give up two first-round picks in the draft, something they haven’t been willing to do so far.
Regardless of the path that the leadership of the Lakers ends up taking, it seems very difficult for us to see LeBron James again lifting a championship trophy with the historic franchise. There are too many unresolved questions on the team and too many good teams to overcome for team fans to dream of the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the near future.
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IN THE LOOK | LeBron James got a great contract but it will be difficult to win another title in Lakers