LeBron James is exercising his $52.6 million option with the Los Angeles Lakers for 2025-26, further confirming that he will become the first player in NBA history to play a 23rd season, a person with knowledge of the decision said Sunday.

James, who recently returned to on-court workouts after taking several weeks to recover after spraining a knee ligament in the Lakers’ final game of this past season’s playoffs, told the AP earlier this month that he expected to be ready for training camp. That was an obvious sign he planned on returning for a 23rd year, one in which he’ll break a tie with Vince Carter for longest NBA career by a player.

“I have a lot of time to take care of my injury, my knee, the rest of my body and make sure I’m as close to 100% as possible when training camp begins in late September,” James said in that interview.

If any doubt existed even after that about James, the NBA’s oldest current player, coming back for at least one more season, it’s gone now. He had until Sunday afternoon to make his decision on the option, one that pushes his career on-court earnings to about $580 million.

This coming season will be his first full year with Luka Doncic as a teammate. Doncic was traded to the Lakers from Dallas in February, but the team — which entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed in a loaded Western Conference — still fell in Round 1 to Minnesota.

James turns 41 in December. He’s been an All-NBA pick in 21 of his 22 seasons in the league, including a second-round nod this past season. No other player has more than 15 All-NBA selections.

He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists this past season. The NBA’s all-time scoring leader has appeared in 1,562 regular-season games, 49 behind Robert Parish’s mark of 1,611 — the most in league history. If healthy, James would obviously figure to break that mark this coming season.

James Harden is opting out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and signing a new deal that would be worth $81.5 million to stay with the team for the next two seasons, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Sunday.

The 16-year veteran, who averaged 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists last season, can opt out of the new deal next summer.

Julius Randle and the Minnesota Timberwolves are finalizing a new deal that could keep him with the club through the 2027-28 season, a person with knowledge of the agreement said.

The final year of the deal will be at Randle’s option and, if it is exercised, could push the total value of the contract to $100 million.

Randle, who averaged 18.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in his first season with Minnesota, had a $30.9 million player option for this coming season and could have been an unrestricted free agent in 2026.

Bobby Portis, one of the league’s top reserves, declined his player option for next season and instead agreed to a three-year, $44 million contract to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks, agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed.

Portis has gotten votes for the league’s sixth man of the year in three of the last five seasons.

The deal replaces an option where he could have made $13.4 million.

The Charlotte Hornets acquired guard Collin Sexton from the Utah Jazz for center Jusuf Nurkic and a future second-round draft pick, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Sexton, a seven-year NBA veteran, played in 63 games last season for the Jazz, averaging 18.4 points and 4.2 assists per game.

The Jazz drafted Walter Clayton in the first round and also have Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George in the backcourt, making Sexton expendable. The move leaves the Hornets particularly thin at center after also trading Mark Williams on the first night of the draft.

Duncan Robinson opted for unrestricted free agency on Sunday, exercising his early termination option for what would have been the final year of his contract with the Miami Heat.

The decision doesn’t mean he cannot return to the Heat. Robinson — the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made — could have let his option pass Sunday and then been guaranteed $9.9 million of what was a nearly $20 million deal for this coming season.

He could now negotiate a new deal with the Heat, agree to be part of a sign-and-trade for another player, or simply sign with a new club.

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed reserve big man Jaylin Williams to a multi-year extension Sunday, rewarding the 34th pick in the 2022 draft with a reported three-year deal worth $24 million.

Less than a week after the Warriors picked two players in the second round of the NBA draft, the team brought back a few of its previous second-rounders for the upcoming season.

Gui Santos, a 2022 selection, and Quinten Post, taken in 2024, had their options exercised for a combined $4.1 million, per reports.

Post will earn $1.9 million, while Santos’ contract of $2.2 million is non-guaranteed.

Bringing back the pair of rotation players on cheap contracts will aid the Warriors in avoiding the second-apron of the salary cap.