The National Basketball Association is crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s as they head into this week’s Board of Governors meeting, as well as the start of training camp across the league in a few weeks. But one aspect of that administrative work is that there appears to be another cap jump on the horizon that may benefit LeBron James.
Shams Charania of The Athletic got the scoop on the latest cap projections from the league, which expect to see the NBA’s salary cap to go up to $125 million in the 2021-22 season. LeBron has a player option for that season, which is the last year on his current four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
In addition to LeBron, Giannis Antetkokounmpo and recent Lakers targets Kawhi Leonard and Paul George could also be free agents. Everyone expects LeBron to finish his career in Los Angeles, but the additional cap space could allow them to add an additional player as well as keep LeBron. Or, the extra money in the league would give LeBron even more options for the later stages of his career (maybe a third homecoming to Cleveland?). But what we do know is that the additional money makes LeBron’s potential free agency a little more interesting.
