What’s included in LeBron James’ two-year max deal with the Lakers?

There was never really a question that LeBron James would play with the Lakers next season, but now it’s official. He’s agreed to re-join the Los Angeles Lakers.

How much is the LeBron/Lakers deal worth?

The contract between LeBron James and the Lakers is a two-year, $104 million max deal with a player option and no-trade clause. It looks like he’ll get to play with his son Bronny for at least a few years now. This comes just a day after the Lakers signed his son to a two-year guaranteed deal.

LeBron opted out of his previous deal. His manager, Rich Paul, said LeBron was willing to discuss a deal below the maximum so that Lakers manager Rob Pelinka could sign an “impact player”. However, if none was available, then he’d still likely seek the max.

With a max deal done for LeBron, it may mean the Lakers are no longer going after Bulls free agent DeMar DeRozan, who was on the list of potential impact players.

LeBron is currently the oldest active NBA player at 39 years old and will be going into his 22nd season in the league. He initially joined the Lakers in 2018 on a four-year, $154 million contract and then signed a two-year, $97.1 million extension in 2022, which included the player option he’s now declined.

His new deal projects to put the Lakers’ salary just above the second tax apron, meaning they won’t be able to get a player from a sign-and-trade or the full mid-level exception unless they’re able to significantly cut costs elsewhere.

The NBA’s minimum salary for a player with at least 10 years of experience is around $49.2 million. However, a player can always earn up to a 5% raise on his previous salary. James made about $47.6 million last year. He’ll be starting at $49,987,718 with this new contract. So the 2025-26 option will be worth $53,986,735. That puts LeBron on track to become the first player in NBA history to be surpass $500 million in career earnings.