Should the Lakers offer LeBron a 2 year, $97.1 million extension on Aug 4?

[skones]

Lebron will be back in the purple and gold for the rest of his career.

I doubt it.

[DroseReturnChi]

Lebron will be back in the purple and gold for the rest of his career.

i mean i doubt both sides want each other they are itching to unload the other. if lebron didnt have much power, he would have been dealt this season already. lebron as a number 1 option is no longer a guarantee as a playoff team and he proved it multiple yrs. he suits in a team where they are final piece away. hes completely done after 40 but plenty of teams will offer 4 yr max for a cheap ring. bronny alone guarantees hes not a laker but given his 20 yr trajectory its semi guaranteed hes going to move to a new powerhouse until it implodes.

[timO]

He Will go back to cleveland to try another title run.

[dshearn]

29 other teams would love to have Lebron on their team, even at his current age.

I would be shocked if that was true.


I dont think 29 teams want that kind of money tied up in an aging Diva.

[KGtabake]

Yes of course.
He's absolutely worthy of the money even if he wasn't playing well. It's LeBron, it's a guarantee you'll get multiple money back in many ways.
He is playing well tho and he's a top10 player without a doubt.
In the next two seasons he'll decline more but he'll still be a better player than the 80% out there.
Add to that, that the Lakers will be able to trade him. Have no doubt, there will be enough teams willing to pay him just to be there.
The only thing they shouldn't allow is to let him walk for nothing.

[KingSebastian]

Signing LeBron at this point isn't about winning.
He's a money tree whether the team is winning or not and he knows his value even as a losing franchise.

His road games fill stadiums. His jersey sales are still at the top of the league.

Lakers don't have to pay him but someone happily will and draft his son to make it happen.

Face it, NBA basketball is more about business than it is about winning titles.

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[ZombieKilla]

Signing and trading him would be more in the best interest of the franchise but I doubt that will happen.

Which team would trade for a player like Lebron on effectively a 3 year $140 million contract?

Rebuilding teams have no use for him.
No reason for contending teams to shake things up when they're already there.
Lakers are stuck with Lebron.

[Exp0sed]

I know this is gonna get crapped on and it's his money and all that, However I find it odd that this is even a thing.
Lebron is one of the richest athletes ever and also by all accounts has made a furtune in other ventures as well and will continue to do so post retirement.
While true he has been incredibly productive per game, continuing his Goat-ish career and just being an outlier all around really, he has also missed a lot of games these 4 Lakers seasons and it's unlikely that will be any different going forward.

That means that on his Super max, Any team he plays for is Hamstrung with almost 50 Million for a good player but also one that misses alot of games, this production needs to be replaced right? and not so ez to replace without cap room

My point is I just don't get Lebron the human being, not taking a pay cut for these last couple of years of his career.
Say he signs for 10,15 or even 20 a season instead of 48, after taxes and assorted related expenses what is that worth to his bottom line?
5m? sure it's a lot of money but not for Lebron. Especiallly if taking a paycut increases his chances at another ring, that has moneteray value as well 'legacy' and all that.

It's not like he'll be doing a favor to whichever team he signs with, he will also significantly improve that team's chances to compete thus be operating in his own self intrest as well, so How come he doesn't? isn't that what he wants? why is he so adamant on not going this route?

[makubesu]

Hilarious seeing people say they shouldn’t. What they should let him walk and then build around the draft? They have no picks! The mindset of the Lakers should be hoping that Lebron can develop whoever they bring in, and try to get some playoff gate revenue with a 7/8 seed.

[nbhadja]

I know this is gonna get crapped on and it's his money and all that, However I find it odd that this is even a thing.
Lebron is one of the richest athletes ever and also by all accounts has made a furtune in other ventures as well and will continue to do so post retirement.
While true he has been incredibly productive per game, continuing his Goat-ish career and just being an outlier all around really, he has also missed a lot of games these 4 Lakers seasons and it's unlikely that will be any different going forward.

That means that on his Super max, Any team he plays for is Hamstrung with almost 50 Million for a good player but also one that misses alot of games, this production needs to be replaced right? and not so ez to replace without cap room

My point is I just don't get Lebron the human being, not taking a pay cut for these last couple of years of his career.
Say he signs for 10,15 or even 20 a season instead of 48, after taxes and assorted related expenses what is that worth to his bottom line?
5m? sure it's a lot of money but not for Lebron. Especiallly if taking a paycut increases his chances at another ring, that has moneteray value as well 'legacy' and all that.

It's not like he'll be doing a favor to whichever team he signs with, he will also significantly improve that team's chances to compete thus be operating in his own self intrest as well, so How come he doesn't? isn't that what he wants? why is he so adamant on not going this route?

Yeah I don't get it either. Lebron is being foolish. The difference between 25 million and 45 million for a few seasons is literally nothing for Lebron. Look at his career earnings and his future earnings. It's a drop in a bucket. He should take a pay cut like Duncan did. Winning rings is far more important. Also he was foolish for signing a long term deal. If he continued doing 1 plus 1 deals he could have had flexibility this season to go where he wants as a FA. Lebron acts like he is broke

I think he is just being short sighted and stubborn. If I were Lebron I would be doing 1+1 deals and taking a massive pay cut. I'd probably take a 20 million salary and go after rings.

I think the Lakers will trade glass Anthony Davis and make another run with Lebron. Or Lebron may go to Cleveland, Miami, or Golden State.

Originally I thought Lebron should have went to Philly instead of LA. He has at least 1 more ring if he did that imo. He also should have asked to be traded to Philly before the deadline this season. Philly would have been favorites.

[dautjazz]

Signing and trading him would be more in the best interest of the franchise but I doubt that will happen.

Which team would trade for a player like Lebron on effectively a 3 year $140 million contract?

Warriors would trade Wiggins in a heartbeat. Believe me there are plenty of awful contracts around to go, it's more about how many first round picks a team would be willing to depart with to get rid a bad contract.

[OdomFan]

He Will go back to cleveland to try another title run.

Just to try to have many of those young players traded away plus look to get them to draft Bronny? That would be a bad move.

[JonFromVA]

Yes, they should certainly offer Lebron an extension.

Also, a report just came out which hinges Lebron's decision to sign the extension on whether or not the Lakers open up the possibility of putting AD on the block. If Lebron signs that 2 year extension (he's still signed for at least next year), Lakers keep AD. If Lebron doesn't commit and sign the extension, Pelinka and Jeannie likely put AD on the trading block and see what kind of offers they can get. This is their way of putting pressure on Lebron to commit.

29 other teams would love to have Lebron on their team, even at his current age.

Good luck with trying to put pressure on LeBron. If staying in LA fits what he (and his family) want to be doing for the next few years, maybe he'll take that extension otherwise he'll be the one putting pressure on the Lakers to keep making big moves until they get it right while planning his exit in case they don't.

At least that's what history tells us ...

[timO]

He Will go back to cleveland to try another title run.

Just to try to have many of those young players traded away plus look to get them to draft Bronny? That would be a bad move.

He come as a FA for the mle or Minimum...

[Dutchball97]

At this point the only smart thing to do seems to be hit the reset button. They've got a title out of this LeBron/AD pairing but unless they somehow convince Cuban to accept Westbrook for Luka straight up, they're not getting anywhere close to title contention with this core again.

[Johnny Bball]

And if he doesn't sign it...you know its all over and rip it all down. but this current team can't win. So, I doubt he signs it and he uses that as leverage to be traded.

[kenwood3333]

Absolutely, even if he is helping the team to win, his brand name alone will improve Laker's revenue.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Signing and trading him would be more in the best interest of the franchise but I doubt that will happen.

Which team would trade for a player like Lebron on effectively a 3 year $140 million contract?

I could see teams being interested. If he can maintain a top 20 player for 3 years, I think he is a + on that contract. Its a gamble but could be worth it for a team needing to get over the top.

The issue is offering the Lakers more than their cap space. You can't just give meh players and filler since it would destroy their cap spaces. But giving up good players + paying lebron makes the deal a negative.

It's weird since the Lakers don't have to pay LBJ that money so they may be better off with a Lame Duck Lebron and then rebuilding.

Other option is just to trade him this year for young talent without the extension and let the other team decide.

[Kingsway_fan]

he loses either way .. he re-signs, lakers still suck and are capped out .. IF he leaves , and he is forever tarnished as a RING chaser, and his legacy is tarnished ...

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Signing LeBron at this point isn't about winning.
He's a money tree whether the team is winning or not and he knows his value even as a losing franchise.

His road games fill stadiums. His jersey sales are still at the top of the league.

Lakers don't have to pay him but someone happily will and draft his son to make it happen.

Face it, NBA basketball is more about business than it is about winning titles.

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I kind of wonder if say the Bucks traded Middleton for him. Would I go out and buy a LBJ Milwaukee jersey? Probably not. I think if he goes to some random team his brand would take a hit because he is either a side kick or playing on a crappy team. The one thing going for him is he will have random milestones that will sell out the stadium.