LeBron James signs massive free agent deal with Los Angeles Lakers

Posted - July 02 2018 07:44

LeBron James signs massive free agent deal with Los Angeles Lakers

The NBA's best player announced today that he has agreed to a four-year, $154 million (NZ$227m) contract with the Lakers, joining one of the league's most storied franchises and switching conferences to try and dethrone the Golden State Warriors and grow his own legacy. But the All-Star forward opted to stick with the Thunder and will sign a four-year deal when teams are permitted to finalize contracts on June 6. James, had he chose to stay, could have inked a five-year, $207 million deal with the Cavs. Paul George reportedly made it known past year that he planned on joining the Lakers this summer, so the Indiana Pacers traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After years of Stephenson trying to troll James, James was nearly in on the joke by the time the series finished, even giving a reporters a play on words of Stephenson's nickname 'Born Ready.' .

Only on this occasion James leaves two years after delivering the city's first championship in more than 52 years, and with Cavs fans wishing him well and thanking him for an incredible run. McGee has played the past two years for the Golden State Warriors.

Unlike past free-agent decisions, James wasted no time in announcing his next move. Since the Lakers announcement fans have been taking to Twitter to share their excitement about the film. That's $38.5 million per season. In all seriousness, though, Stephenson is a decent value signing for the Lakers, though they surely would have preferred to get him for the veteran minimum rather than having to use their $4.4 million room midlevel exception.

The Lakers were a 35-win team last season, finishing 12 games out of the playoffs.

Getting back to annual title contention, which is a given with James, will be hard.

One name to keep an eye on to join LeBron James with the Lakers, a source noted: Former Miami Heat teammate Chris Bosh, who is seeking a return to the league after leaving the game as he was dealing with blood clots.

During the 2017-18 season, LeBron coasted through the season and still managed to average 27.5 points, 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game on 54.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Missing out on Leonard this summer would however leave a lot up to four-time MVP James if they intend to compete for a championship in 2018-19.

James helped Cleveland to their first National Basketball Association title in 2016, as they overturned a 3-1 deficit in the National Basketball Association finals to beat Golden State.

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