LeBron James just signed a two-year, $8 million deal to join the Philadelphia 76ers, ending a summer-long saga that oozed drama. The new deal has a player option in the second year, but still, James’ decision to sign for very little money in pursuit of a championship follows what seems to be a new NBA trend. A new trend that New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson may have started.
Brunson took a pay cut to help the Knicks win a title. He took less money so New York could re-sign all the players it needed to make a run at a title. James signed for around $4 million per season to join a roster that was already stacked with talent. He could have signed elsewhere for more, but he took less to help a team win.
Pay cuts may become the new way of winning in the NBA, for better or for worse.
LeBron James just signed for less money then he could have... just like Jalen Brunson
When Brunson took a pay cut, it was met with gratitude from the Knicks and Knicks fans, but overall speculation from the masses. Why would he turn down money? That’s good for the team, but what about for him?
Well, Brunson’s decision could not have worked out any better. The Knicks won an NBA Championship, he’s now a New York legend, and the Knicks will probably hand him a massive extension once his current deal expires.
Now, James is signing a tiny deal to join the already-stacked 76ers. Philly already has Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Jaylen Brown, who they traded for earlier this summer in a deal with the Boston Celtics.
So, in order to join the team, James was willing to take a very small contract. He’s still an All-Star. Maybe even an All-NBA guy. But he wanted to compete for a title, so he took less money.
Even Victor Wembanyama followed the trend of taking a pay cut to help his team compete for a championship. Instead of signing a supermax rookie-scale extension for 30% of the cap, Wemby settled for 25% of the cap.
That will save the San Antonio Spurs around $10 million per season, which should allow them to keep a lot of their depth pieces.
It seems like more and more players are slowly beginning to take pay cuts in order to compete for titles. James is certainly a unique case, as he’s 41 years old, but if he truly wanted another payday, he could have gotten one.
Brunson was the first to take a pay cut. Then Wemby. Now James.
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