The pasture the Lakers will have to pay LeBron James mandatorily

For Los Angeles Lakers, any savings they can achieve in terms of their current contracts is welcome. With Luka Doncic, the team knows they need to rebuild their roster for the present and future in the NBA. Without a center, with LeBron James almost retired, and with a virtually empty rotation, new signings must come one way or another.

An opportunity to free up salary space could have come through LeBron himself. 'The King' is at the end of his contract, but he has a player option for $52.6 million. He could reject it and renegotiate a lower salary, but that won't be the case.

As reported by NBA Rumors' Shams Charania from ESPN, LeBron James has decided to exercise his player option and not leave any money on the table for the Lakers:

"I'm told he's likely to opt in. That's the plan. His deadline is June 29th. There will be tough talks between him and the Lakers. LeBron James, whether he plays one more season or several more, wants to be in a competitive environment," Charania stated.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El pastizal que le pagarán los Lakers a LeBron James obligatoriamente