LeBron James gets public relations win along with max deal

LeBron James floated the idea that he would take less than a max contract to help the Lakers. He ended up getting his full max, plus a bit of free goodwill.

Last week, James' agent, Rich Paul, said that James was "prioritizing a roster improvement" this summer and would be willing to sign for less than his maximum salary top open up the team's full mid-level exception for an "impact player." His list reportedly included James Harden, Jonas Valanciunas and Klay Thompson, with the former two players quickly coming off the board with Thompson following suit when he agreed to join the Dallas Mavericks.

The problem is that the Lakers weren't prepared to get one of those players when free agency began. Dallas was poised to acquire Thompson because they traded Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Detroit Pistons last Friday, clearing salary and gaining a $16.1M trade exception they used to bring in the Splash Brother.

Los Angeles needed to do something with a player like D'Angelo Russell, who opted into his $18.7M player option or point guard Gabe Vincent, who makes $11M. Because they sat tight – and Harden was never in play – the idea that James would give money back was a hollow offer, regardless of its sincerity.

Especially considering the Lakers gave his son Bronny a full NBA contract for three years (plus a team option), rather than a two-way contract of a partially-guaranteed deal. But don't worry, the narrative of James hypothetically giving money back is still alive.

James has earned every penny of his contract and is probably worth far more. But it's disingenuous to see stories about his supposed willingness to give money back, when it was never a real possibility.