The greatest career in NBA history will end with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James agreed to a two-year, $104 million contract to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic. There is still talk of James taking slightly less to allow the Lakers to avoid the dreaded second apron to allow for more roster flexibility.
The deal does have a player option for next summer, along with a no-trade clause, which will allow James to potentially spend the presumable final year of his career with another team, like his home-state Cavs.
But the most likely scenario is that this is it. James will retire a Laker.
In the end, James got most of what he wanted. According to league sources, JJ Redick was his preferred coach despite all the talk that James wasn't involved in that process at all.
(Let's all have a hearty laugh at that.)
The Lakers also drafted his son, Bronny James, with the 55th pick and gave him a fully guaranteed, multi-year deal, which gives him both financial security of his own and a better chance at cementing himself as an NBA player.
The coach, the kid and the contract, over $100 million for two years.
James leaving open the player option for next season in his classic "1+1" structure he used with the Cavaliers presumably allows him to pressure the Lakers into adding talent, but ultimately, that battle was lost this summer. The Lakers chose not to further limit their future through the trade of draft picks or going into the second apron to build more talent around James.
If this is the last stop for James, he ends it on what is likely a play-in team with D'Angelo Russell as his starting point guard. Anthony Davis played the most games he has in six years last season and is unlikely to duplicate that availability. The rest of the roster is good, if uninspiring.
The upside is that when Rui Hachimura escaped the bench doghouse and played over 20 minutes alongside James and Davis, the Lakers went 27-10. That's a 59-win pace. So maybe it really is as simple as improving the coach with a former player (even if he had a podcast), getting better injury luck from the role players and just squeezing out one more year from James and Davis being able to play.
Will this be LeBron's final season? You'd assume if it was, there would be an announcement of the farewell tour, and they likely wouldn't have bothered negotiating out the second season if he'd made up his mind. So get ready for the 2025-2026 LeBron James Farewell Tour.
The Lakers are +3000 to win the NBA title after the news of James officially returning, which is unchanged from before free agency began.
James is also, somehow, not really slowing down. He finished seventh in Estimated Plus-Minus, sixth in BPM and sixth in PER last season. He's still incredible. His lowest nights are lower than ever, and his highest nights aren't as good as they once were, but his overall performance night to night is still incredible.
He's one of the best players in basketball, still. He's arguably the Greatest of All Time. He's had the greatest career in NBA history.
And it will most likely end with the Lakers.
