In-depth analysis of the player options executed by James actually has room for the Lakers to operate?

LeBron James chose to execute the $52.6 million player option next season, and will start his 23rd season with the Lakers.

On the surface, ESPN's Shams Charania explained that James is exercising his 2025-26 player option while considering his future with the Lakers, which is hard to understand. If James might want to play somewhere else, why not become a free agent?

With basically no ceiling space in the market this year, the rebuilt Brooklyn Nets is the only team that can provide James with his highest salary of $54.1 million. If James switched somehow this summer, it was almost certainly a deal.

If James rejects his choice, a signing deal is possible, but this possibility is complicated, as teams obtain players through signing deals automatically subject to lower luxury tax restrictions, limiting their actions to build a roster. Opt-in and trading are not subject to the same restrictions.

For example, suppose that the Golden State Warriors can now trade Jimmy Butler III (starting the biggest renewal) to the Lakers in exchange for James and Brownie James, and neither team faces any kind of hard cap, allowing the Warriors to re-sign restricted free agent Jonathan Cumingga.

Setting James' cap number does clarify the Lakers' choice in free agents. Essentially, the team will choose between re-signing forward Dorian Finney-Smith (who plans to reject the $15.4 million player option in favor of a longer contract, according to Charania) and the $14.1 million non-taxpayer intermediate exception, most likely the next choice. Going the latter path will give the Lakers a tweak under the cap space and allow them to fill the roster safely with minimal contracts while leaving a little room for maneuver for the trades in the season.