Now that LeBron, Wade and Bosh have all opted out, it becomes more apparent that the three must’ve communicated with one another on this decision. They must all put their heads together to make this thing work financially. Despite that objective, LeBron reportedly is seeking a max deal.
Obviously, a player of LeBron’s caliber should be a max player, but how will this work with the objective of bringing the big 3 back and also improving the surrounding pieces? This means Wade will likely have to take a significant pay cut. The bright side for Wade would be that it could wind up being more over the life of this new contract than he was owed on the $42.5M he just opted out of.
Teams who contact James will be informed that he wants no less than the maximum salary number for next season, sources said. The max number is projected to be $22.2 million. In 2010, James accepted a pay cut when he signed with the Miami Heat, taking less than the maximum salary to help make space for other free agents.
Also, as of now, James is not scheduling any pitch meetings with teams — he will let agent Rich Paul handle the opening stages of talks. In 2010, he scheduled six meetings with teams at his offices in Cleveland over the first three days of July.
H/T: CBS Sports
