Salary cut of 15 million? It was revealed that James is unlikely to accept that even if he leaves, the Lakers' salary space is limited

On May 29, Beijing time, Jovan Buha, a reporter of the Lakers, analyzed James' salary for next season on the latest program, saying that the Lakers need James to take a salary cut of 15 million-17 million in order to use the full middle class, but James is unlikely to accept a salary cut. Buha also said that even if James does not exercise the option to leave the Lakers, the Lakers' salary space is still limited.

Buha gave an overview of the Lakers' salary situation, which they expect to be a team that is above the salary cap and above the luxury tax line. Depending on how they use the $5.7 million mini-middle class exception, they could be slightly below the No. 1 line, or they could break through the No. 1 line but stay below the No. 2 line, as they did last season.

That means the most likely way for them to improve their roster is to close one or more trades, or use a $5.7 million mini-mid-range.

Buha stressed: "James determines their operational flexibility to a certain extent. He will need to accept a pay cut of about $15 million to $17 million for the team to use the full mid-range exception (which can reach $14.1 million in the first year), but as we previously reported at The Athletic, sources close to James say he is unlikely to accept a pay cut. ”

On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams reported that he heard that the most likely outcome was James exercising a $52.6 million player option. Therefore, James' contract amount next season is likely to be around $50 million, which will limit the Lakers' financial flexibility. ”

Buha also said: "Even with James leaving, looking at the actual salary figures, if Finney-Smith exercises the player option or a contract extension, the Lakers' salary space is still limited, and they may only have $15 million to $20 million in salary space. ”

Now it seems that the Lakers' operation this summer will revolve around "whether James stays on the team or not" and "center reinforcement", salary pressure and time urgency coexist, and every decision may reshape the team's competitiveness pattern in the next 3-5 years. Last offseason, James expressed his willingness to take a pay cut, but the Lakers' pursuit of Klay, Harden, DeRozan and others at that time failed.