LeBron opts to become a free agent?
LeBron James accomplished his dream of bringing a championship back to Cleveland. Now, he’s cashing in.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP opted out of his contract for the 2016-17 seasons Tuesday and will become an unrestricted free agent Friday, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, who cited James’ agent, Rich Paul. James, 31, was due to make $24 million next season, per Spotrac.
While James has said he will return to Cleveland, Paul told Broussard there is no timetable for signing a new deal. The move is largely seen as a formality.
Shams Charania of The Vertical reported on June 17 the NBA is projecting a salary cap of $94 million in 2016-17, a $24 million jump from this past season. For a maximum-level player like James, that represents a sizable potential pay raise. Because he has accrued 10-plus years of experience, he can max out at $30.8 million for 2016-17, per Charania, with annual raises of 7.5 percent over the length of his contract.
The Cavaliers don’t have James’ full Bird rights because he only returned to Cleveland two years ago, so they’re limited in the amount they can offer him. His starting salary with the Cavs in 2016-17 can top out at roughly $27.5 million, and the team can only offer him a four-year deal with annual raises of 7.5 percent.
It’s unlikely James pursues a long-term deal this summer. For the last two years, the four-time MVP has signed one-year contracts, with a player option for the second season. He did this for seemingly two reasons: to apply pressure on the Cavaliers to build a winner and to land the highest possible contract.
The former part of the bargain is done. The Cavs have some glaring flaws—most notably on the defensive end—but they’ve been to two straight NBA Finals and won one. This past season, James was named the unanimous Finals MVP, as he led Cleveland to the first-ever comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, fulfilling the promise he made in his Sports Illustrated letter two years ago.
James said the following after Game 7, per Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com:
I came back for a reason. I came back to bring a championship to our city. I knew what I was capable of doing. I knew what I learned in the last couple years that I was gone, and I knew if I had to — when I came back — I knew I had the right ingredients and the right blueprint to help this franchise get back to a place that we’ve never been. That’s what it was all about.
James would not, however, be maximizing his long-term earning potential by signing anything other than another one-plus-one contract. The NBA projects the 2017-18 cap to be $107 million, according to an April report from USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, which may wind up being a low estimate given recent trends.
If that projection proves correct, James would eligible for a contract that starts in the $35 million range for the first season. That would be the time for James to cash in, as he’d be eligible for a full five-year contract that would pay him $40-plus million a year into his mid-30s.
Some may suggest James is now free to leave Cleveland after winning a championship, but that’s nonsense. Stars don’t bolt after winning Finals MVPs, and James has learned over the last two seasons just how hard it is to replicate his success with the Miami Heat. His decision to opt out is solely about exercising his power as the greatest player on the planet.
Category: Basketball
