LeBron James Paycut Could Open Major Doors for Lakers in Offseason

This summer is a critical time for the Los Angeles Lakers. They are trying to figure out a way to maximize the time that LeBron James has left in the NBA.

James is going to be 41 years old next season. While he did make second-team All-NBA this season, he is going to start to slow down at some point.

Los Angeles has a few positions that they need to upgrade on the roster this summer in order to contend for a title. The issue is that they don't have a lot of cap space to do that.

James is one of the guys who can control whether or not the Lakers will be able to improve in a meaningful way. He could decide to take a pay cut to give the Lakers some more cap space.

If James were to opt out of his player option and re-sign at a lower number, it could allow the Lakers to use their non-taxpayer midlevel exception to sign a center.

Adding a starting center is the biggest thing that the Lakers have to do this summer. If they aren't able to sign one in free agency, they will have to execute a trade to get one.

This is a pretty bad free-agent class, especially at center. Myles Turner is the best center in free agency, but he is likely to return to the Indiana Pacers.

The Lakers will likely have to target a different center to come to Los Angeles, and unlocking that cap space with James taking a pay cut could help them do that.

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James has rarely taken pay cuts over the course of his career. He certainly isn't obligated to since he has earned the money that he has signed for.

If James wants to win another title, next season might be his last best chance to do so. Taking a pay cut at this time in his career might be the move in order to get that title.

This past season, James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game.

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