Among the many free agent decisions that the Los Angeles Lakers need to make this offseason, the fate of LeBron James is one of the biggest ones.

The long time Lakers star is up for free agency and seems to be heading into his 22nd NBA season rather than retirement and with that likelihood comes the question for the Lakers if they'll be James' destination at the beginning of next season and what kind of price tag they might be willing to pay to make that happen.

James did have another productive season, averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.,2 assists in one of the more reduced roles he's experienced in his career, playing as the third option for most of the season behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, though James showed his value yet again in the postseason.

He took over for the team after Doncic was sidelined for the entire postseason and Reaves was out for most of the first round and James' performance in that situation showed that despite being the oldest player in the league, he still has a lot to give to the team.

One aspect of that persistent value that James has displayed is that retaining him in free agency could come with a heavy price. Some reports have said that James could be looking for as much as $50 million per season from a prospective team, which would obviously put heavy financial strain on the Lakers. 

A recent article from ESPN's Bobby Marks has proposed a far smaller, though still massive contract, overall. Marks proposed that the Lakers could offer a one-year, $30 million contract to James, keeping him aboard for another season before the question of retirement comes up again while still keeping him well paid. 

Marks' proposal of $30 million would give the Lakers the space to re-sign both Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura while still keeping the $15 million non-tax midlevel and could still put them in a position to sign possible free agent Austin Reaves to the kind of contract he'll likely be looking for as well. 

A James contract in the $50 million range puts them well out of the range of financial flexibility and would make even retaining Reaves, who should be the Lakers' top free agent target, difficult, let alone letting them add the impact free agents they need to bulk out the roster.

Winning with Doncic needs to be the Lakers' biggest focus when it comes to the direction of the team and while keeping James would still be great for the franchise, doing so at a reduced cost needs to be considered. 

At this stage in James' career, he's accomplished so much of what he could have sought to do and and if winning with this Lakers' squad is what his focus is, then accepting a mere $30 million should be in the ballpark of something both he and the team should be able to agree to.