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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
LeBron James has opted out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $51.4 million for next season and will now look to work out a new deal with the team.
James, 39, had a 5 p.m. ET deadline Saturday to inform the Lakers of his official decision.
Shortly after James officially opted out, his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, explained his client’s thinking.
“He is prioritizing a roster improvement,” Paul told ESPN on Saturday. “He’s been adamant about exuding all efforts to improve the roster.”
Paul said James would be willing to work with the Lakers on signing a deal below the maximum three-year, $162 million he is eligible for to open up the full $12.9 million midlevel exception to sign an “impact player.”
The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker such as James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis — such as Jonas Valančiūnas, sources told ESPN.
If the Lakers are unable to entice a player of that ilk to come to L.A. for the MLE, James will seek the max, Paul told ESPN.
James can only have so much patience in working with the Lakers on his next deal, however. Team USA’s training camp to prepare for this summer’s Paris Olympics begins in a week in Las Vegas.
Paul told ESPN that he will look to complete a deal with the Lakers for James before Team USA camp opens up.
L.A. drafted James’ eldest son, Bronny James, with the No. 55 pick in the second round of the NBA draft Thursday.
James averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 71 games this past season — the most games he has played in six seasons with the franchise. He shot 54% from the field and a career-best 41% from 3 as he was named to the All-NBA third team and became the first player in league history to surpass 40,000 points.
Davis, who has played five of those six seasons with James in L.A., said he has purposefully not put pressure on James regarding his decision this offseason. The two will pair up in the Paris Olympics this summer, too.
“I’m just respecting his space,” Davis told ESPN this week. “I know we’ll be together all summer and I know if he decides to do something — whether stay with the Lakers, opt in or opt out and re-sign or opt out and choose a different path, I know he’ll tell me before he makes any [official] decision just because we have that relationship. So I’m pretty sure I’ll know before anybody else besides, like, his family and Rich [Paul].”