LeBron James to take $160M max deal after Lakers miss Thompson

LeBron James is now expected to accept his full three-year, $160 million max contract after James Harden, Klay Thompson, and Jonas Valanciunas signed with other teams.

James was willing to take a pay cut for these three targets to help the Lakers acquire them. Reportedly, James reached out to Thompson with a recruiting pitch at the start of free agency on Sunday.

“For the Lakers, ultimately, LeBron James probably takes that full max,” said Adrian Wojnarowski on Sports Center. “Because the kind of impact player they hoped they could get is not available to them.”