The truth about LeBron James new contract extension

LeBron James just signed a two-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers that will give him $97 million. This new deal makes LeBron James the highest-earning player in NBA history with a $530 million guarantee. The only problem is that the Lakers don’t look like a competitive team right now, which means they still have to make a move. According to an NBA analyst, LeBron James is now the one who takes the decisions in LA.

According to Bill Plaschke from the LA Times, LeBron’s new two-year extension is not only because the team wants him to stay, but also means that the ‘King’ is in charge of the teams decision. "Nonetheless, this extension does undoubtedly prove that James shares one trait with previous Lakers stars. James seemingly runs the team, which could be problematic when he reaches the player-option portion of his contract before the 2024 season.", explains Plaschke.

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Of course, the Lakers front office won't admit what Plaschke is mentioning, but something is clear, the team is expecting that LeBron James can lead the team to, not just to the playoffs, but to another championship run. According to the NBA analyst, the ‘King’ no longer can. "It first assumes that James is still capable of leading a team to a full-season championship. The truth is that he is not." complete Plaschke.

So far, LeBron has already helped the team to win one more ring three seasons ago, and get to the playoffs two seasons ago. But overall, the team has suffered a bad streak as they have missed the postseason the same number of times that LeBron had missed them in his whole career. Right now, they are expecting that the ‘King’ will be once again their saviour, but as we saw a season ago, he's no longer the Iron-man he once was, so he needs a team that can win the games when he's not available.

Three options for the Lakers

We all know that the Los Angeles Lakers have been the frontrunners for Kyrie Irving. The Purple and Gold have already offered Russell Westbrook and two first round picks to the Brooklyn Nets, but so far there's been no answer. There have been reports that the front office might push for the Pacers' Myles Turner or Buddy Hield or both. However, Rob Pelinka didn't want to offer too much for the two players from Indiana. So far, those three are the only players that have been really linked to the Lakers.