On July 3, Beijing time, just tonight, there was a very heavy news from the NBA, James and the Lakers reached a 2-year contract extension with a maximum salary of $104 million. According to the report, it is a 1+1 two-year contract, with a player option for the second year, while James also has a trade veto.
James's contract extension has also caused widespread discussion among netizens, and some people think that with James renewing his contract with a maximum salary, it means that the Lakers basically have no reinforcements in the future, because there is no salary space, and the Lakers' management has become a joke again this summer.
At the same time, some people expressed dissatisfaction with James' contract extension with the highest salary, believing that his previous willingness to cut his salary was completely false and used for hype.
In addition, some people believe that James is also really awesome, and he didn't want a 3-year contract of $162 million, but chose a 1+1 contract that may actually be only a 1-year contract. Personally, I think that James should not put a three-year $162 million contract because of the maximization of benefits, because if a new broadcast contract is reached in the 25/26 season, the NBA's salary cap will rise sharply, and James can earn more by signing a three-year contract next year.
It is worth mentioning that although James finally renewed his contract with the maximum salary, he actually took a pay cut. According to NBA salary experts, James' salary distribution for this contract is: 24/25 season, $49.99 million; $52.49 million for the 25/26 season.
In other words, James' salary next season is less than $50 million, and if he hadn't jumped out of his contract and become a free agent, his salary next season would be $51.42 million, which means that James actually took a salary cut of about $1.43 million. But at the same time, the Lakers gave Bronny a multi-year guaranteed contract, although the amount was not exposed, but as a second-round pick, the annual salary will definitely not be much. It's possible that James' salary cut was given to Bronny.