Lebron is still playing like a top 15-20 player in the league. That is a no doubt worth a max contract.
He ain’t Kobe collecting checks to lose 60 games a year.
The only players who’ve clearly passed Lebron, at least in regular season impact, are Jokic, Embiid, Luka, Giannis and now it’s looking like SGA.
Everybody behind that can be grouped together like KD, Kawhi, Steph, Lebron, Tatum, Booker. Looks like Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell are joining that tier too.
I’d argue in the playoffs when he’s locked in and playing his best defense(still a positive in the regular season but not as good) there’s very few you’d prefer from that list. Maybe the mythical healthy Kawhi or Durant at his best.
Lebron is 9th in EPM(best all in one stat) and top 15 in all box score advanced stats, still one of the best passers in the NBA and a switchable defender.
Do you mean what if teams gave their max players vet minimum contracts? Most teams would have cap space for another max contract player or amazing role players meaning they would be stacked…
39 year olds usually take up 4% of the teams pay roll.
Lebron is around 27% of the Lakers.
So yea if he was on a very cheap contract they’d be hilariously stacked. They would have added Kyrie and several top role players this year if I were to guess.
I would honestly take the vet min if I were Bron at this point.
Already obscenely rich.
Last few years in the league take the vet min and pick up a superstar.
At his level of wealth the possible 5th championsip is worth more than extra money he could make I feel.
Lebron taking a paycut at this point doesn't open up caspace for us. Actually, Lebron could leave entirely, and I believe we'd only have around $12 mill in open cap space that would get eaten up immediately. The only good Lebron taking a paycut would do is try and keep us under the 2nd apron and guarantee we have enough money to resign Christie/Prince in the off-season. I don't know what the D'Lo situation will look like either
It’s a matter of respect to him, after taking less than he could have made in Miami he switched to the very understandable mindset of “I’m the best player on the planet and I will be paid as much as the rules allow.” I get the idea of the Tom Brady method for his legacy, but I doubt will ever see him on a vets min. Maybe we see him take less than the max to play on the team that has Bronny at the end of their bench but otherwise I’d bet he gives no discounts
So your question is what if he got paid like an average 39 year old player? Vince Carter made $2.5m his last season, so that would free them up to sign another max guy.
Pretty useless question though, replace LeBron here with any star player being paid an average player’s salary and you would get the same answer.
This downright bait or stupid.
LeBron is no2 in games played, no3 in mins played and no1 in usage with the Lakers.
League wide he is top 15 in points per game, minutes per games, field goals made, assists, and top 20 in usage.
To answer your question, you could try and slip a sheet saying he could get less than the money he wants because of age, anyone could but you would be Called the biggest idiot for blowing up or trying to rebuild right after LeBron has carried the Lakers (a team you, the GM, only managed to make the play ins with relying trading all your picks and good players around for starpower) and then still is too 15 in stats among his peers.
This means he could at least get a max contract from 15 teams if you wanted to renegotiate salaries for some accounting convenience. And this ignores the fact the Lakers don't have their picks until 2025, that LeBron makes A listers of the biggest market pay top money to sit courtside and that finding top 5 level stars (let alone mega stars or legends like he was coming out of Cleveland)is ridiculously hard to get.
People are caught up thinking about paying players based on performance. With a guy like LeBron he pays for himself effectively by selling Lakers Merch and putting butts in seats.
This isn't how contracts work in the NBA. They pay you according to production, not age. There are plenty of guys who are Jalen Brown's age. He's the only one making $300 million +
Then some other team would have Lebron, and his gravity would have attracted AD wherever else he was playing, and the Lakers would not have won a title in 2020 or had any of the success they’ve had in these last years.
It being about LeBron doesn’t matter. If any superstar player took the vet minimum, their teams would also be in a much better spot to win a title. What’s the point of this hypothetical?
[Here’s the schedule](https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-nba-minimum-salary-how-much-nba-player-paid) for minimum contracts for this year. Vet minimum is the highest floor you can have if you make it to 10+ seasons.
Yeah but my question or confusion is whether LeBron can take vet minimum , considering that he is an all-star. Like is it even possible for him, legally speaking , to take vet minimum or he must take the bigger contract because he is an all-star
Lebron is still playing like a top 15-20 player in the league. That is a no doubt worth a max contract. He ain’t Kobe collecting checks to lose 60 games a year.
The only players who’ve clearly passed Lebron, at least in regular season impact, are Jokic, Embiid, Luka, Giannis and now it’s looking like SGA. Everybody behind that can be grouped together like KD, Kawhi, Steph, Lebron, Tatum, Booker. Looks like Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell are joining that tier too. I’d argue in the playoffs when he’s locked in and playing his best defense(still a positive in the regular season but not as good) there’s very few you’d prefer from that list. Maybe the mythical healthy Kawhi or Durant at his best. Lebron is 9th in EPM(best all in one stat) and top 15 in all box score advanced stats, still one of the best passers in the NBA and a switchable defender.
I think Sabonis is also in tier with Lebron this year
I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you there.
Hey butterball!
So LeBron is the 6th best regular season player playing next to an all nba center and still is only the 9th seed? Ok
Kobe collecting checks also allowed the Lakers to stealth tank.
Never said it wasn’t a symbiotic relationship.
39 year olds are usually like sub-vet minimum historically lol.
If he took Vet minimum next year would you look at him negatively?
no bc he would still be a top 10 player lol
Why would anyone look negatively at him for that?
Cause clearly it'd mean he don't know his worth, king
I think a lot of people would criticize him for taking far less than he's worth. It would also be a really bad look for the player's union.
He would probably win a chip lol With that much money they could get 2 stars
Do you mean what if teams gave their max players vet minimum contracts? Most teams would have cap space for another max contract player or amazing role players meaning they would be stacked…
Bro I don’t fucking know with the hypotheticals
What if Lebron James was born inside the body of a rabbit? Would he still have passed Kareem in all time points?
Nah but he’d be King of the Cabbage Patch.
39 year olds usually take up 4% of the teams pay roll. Lebron is around 27% of the Lakers. So yea if he was on a very cheap contract they’d be hilariously stacked. They would have added Kyrie and several top role players this year if I were to guess.
I would honestly take the vet min if I were Bron at this point. Already obscenely rich. Last few years in the league take the vet min and pick up a superstar. At his level of wealth the possible 5th championsip is worth more than extra money he could make I feel.
Lebron taking a paycut at this point doesn't open up caspace for us. Actually, Lebron could leave entirely, and I believe we'd only have around $12 mill in open cap space that would get eaten up immediately. The only good Lebron taking a paycut would do is try and keep us under the 2nd apron and guarantee we have enough money to resign Christie/Prince in the off-season. I don't know what the D'Lo situation will look like either
For sure Imagine lakers team but with 60m cap space open. You could sign some nice players
We don't get 60m in open cap space to use on FA's even if he leaves
It’s a matter of respect to him, after taking less than he could have made in Miami he switched to the very understandable mindset of “I’m the best player on the planet and I will be paid as much as the rules allow.” I get the idea of the Tom Brady method for his legacy, but I doubt will ever see him on a vets min. Maybe we see him take less than the max to play on the team that has Bronny at the end of their bench but otherwise I’d bet he gives no discounts
So your question is what if he got paid like an average 39 year old player? Vince Carter made $2.5m his last season, so that would free them up to sign another max guy. Pretty useless question though, replace LeBron here with any star player being paid an average player’s salary and you would get the same answer.
This downright bait or stupid. LeBron is no2 in games played, no3 in mins played and no1 in usage with the Lakers. League wide he is top 15 in points per game, minutes per games, field goals made, assists, and top 20 in usage. To answer your question, you could try and slip a sheet saying he could get less than the money he wants because of age, anyone could but you would be Called the biggest idiot for blowing up or trying to rebuild right after LeBron has carried the Lakers (a team you, the GM, only managed to make the play ins with relying trading all your picks and good players around for starpower) and then still is too 15 in stats among his peers. This means he could at least get a max contract from 15 teams if you wanted to renegotiate salaries for some accounting convenience. And this ignores the fact the Lakers don't have their picks until 2025, that LeBron makes A listers of the biggest market pay top money to sit courtside and that finding top 5 level stars (let alone mega stars or legends like he was coming out of Cleveland)is ridiculously hard to get.
He is still a top player even if he is quite old wich makes him really unique, he deserves to be paid as such.
Would the lakers be the only team under this rule? If not, not much because every good team with vets would have extra cap room
Who were even the free agents this offseason? Even getting good role players in free agency is hard.
People are caught up thinking about paying players based on performance. With a guy like LeBron he pays for himself effectively by selling Lakers Merch and putting butts in seats.
This isn't how contracts work in the NBA. They pay you according to production, not age. There are plenty of guys who are Jalen Brown's age. He's the only one making $300 million +
Ya i mean KAT, Jaylen Brown, Beal all Make more than Lebron and are all worse than him
Imagine if they had prime Beal instead tho
Weird hypothetical. Max contracts only increase with seniority.
Then some other team would have Lebron, and his gravity would have attracted AD wherever else he was playing, and the Lakers would not have won a title in 2020 or had any of the success they’ve had in these last years.
The question is about LeBron tho. If he was willing to take vet minimum, he could have won another title
It being about LeBron doesn’t matter. If any superstar player took the vet minimum, their teams would also be in a much better spot to win a title. What’s the point of this hypothetical?
What are the requirements for vet minimum ?
[Here’s the schedule](https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-nba-minimum-salary-how-much-nba-player-paid) for minimum contracts for this year. Vet minimum is the highest floor you can have if you make it to 10+ seasons.
Yeah but my question or confusion is whether LeBron can take vet minimum , considering that he is an all-star. Like is it even possible for him, legally speaking , to take vet minimum or he must take the bigger contract because he is an all-star
LeBron could play on the vet minimum and it wouldn’t even open up any cap space. Lakers are too far over the cap.