On December 4, the Lakers officially announced that James signed a two-year, 85 million contract extension with the team.
At the same time, ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported that Davis signed a five-year, 190 million contract extension with the Lakers. Davis has player options in the final year.
This means that James will play for the Lakers until 2023 and Davis will play for the Lakers until 2024. They will play for the Lakers for at least three years together.
In the next five years, Davis will earn 32.74 million, 35.36 million, 37.98 million, 40.6 million, and 43.22 million respectively, while James' salary in the 21-22 season is 41.88 million, and in the 22-23 season it is 44.47 million.
In this way, the total salary of Zhan Mei in the 21-22 season will reach 75.44 million, and the total salary in the 22-23 season will reach 82.45 million.
Among the current Lakers players, only Pope signed a three-year, 39 million contract with the team this year, but his contract is partially guaranteed in the third year. If Pope is laid off, the Lakers will only have James and David in the summer of 2022. Si has a contract, and their total salary is 75.44 million. Including the more than 2 million salary paid by cutting off Pope, the Lakers' salary is about 78 million.
If the salary cap is 120 million in 2022, the Lakers will have 42 million in salary space, which is enough to introduce a superstar.
Therefore, the Lakers still have plans to form the Big Three in 2022. The premise is that the Lakers can only renew one-year contracts for Kuzma, Caruso, Schroeder and others, otherwise the Lakers will not have room to sign the third Big Three. .
Of course, the Lakers can sign first and then trade, so that the Lakers can get superstars at any time. The Lakers' current chips include Pope, Schroeder, Caruso, Kuzma and others, so a bunch of role players can be quoted. A superstar, but this is not very necessary. The Lakers have a very good lineup now and the team should have a good chemical reaction. Zhan Mei led the team to win the championship last season, which proves that the Lakers can get it by relying on Zhan Mei and equipped with good role players. championship, so there is no need to introduce a third giant.
If the Lakers' results are unsatisfactory, the Lakers can get the third giant through trade. This possibility should be small. The Lakers' lineup should be well integrated, and their results will not be bad with Zhan Mei.
The key to the Lakers having room to sign a third giant in 2022 is that Davis signed a five-year, 190 million contract with the team, which saved the team a lot of money. The Lakers prepared various preparations before Davis renewed his contract. There were several options for Davis to choose from, but Davis chose the longest contract extension method, and he received a lot less money.
Among the rookies in the same class as Davis, Lillard reached a 4-year, 1.96-year early contract extension agreement with the Trail Blazers last year. This contract will begin to be fulfilled in 2021. Later, due to the epidemic, Lillard could only take the contract 176 million in four years. Counting the 32.18 million Lillard earned this year, Lillard will earn 208 million in the next five years. This means that Davis will earn 18 million less than Lillard in the next five years, which will free up space for the Lakers. salary space.
If Davis signs a 2+1 contract, he can get a super-large contract in 2022. If the salary cap in 2022 is 120 million, his starting salary is 120 million times 35%, which is 42 million, and Dai Weiss' five-year, 190 million contract only earned 37.98 million in 22-23, a full 4 million less.
It is precisely because Davis signed a five-year, 190 million contract that the Lakers reduced their salary expenses accordingly, so that the Lakers have room to sign the third giant in 2022.
