What It Means:

James will not play in the next three preseason games, but will suit up for the team's exhibition finale against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, October 18th. Entering a season where he will turn 32, James has already logged 38,478 regular season minutes and another 8300 playoff minutes. His absence from these preseason games could be maintenance and tapering for the regular season. However, the King's minutes per game were a career low 35.6 last season, so there is potential for his minutes to go down even further this year, with periodic rest days sprinkled in.

Despite his career low in minutes per game, James had yet another stellar season with a 15.5 nERD. His three-point attempt rate dropped to .199, a three year low, but he used it to improve his true shooting percentage to 58.8, which is just above his career average. His win shares per 48 minutes of .242 ranked sixth among qualified players last season.