The Los Angeles Clippers on Monday afternoon officially introduced NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West as a new team consultant.

With West on board back in Los Angeles, Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports is reporting that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is willing to pay him a significant salary because of his great potential to help bring stability to the franchise and possibly lure in LeBron James next summer in free agency.

According to two people with knowledge of the situation, West’s potential ability to improve the Clippers’ chances of landing the Cleveland Cavaliers star in free agency in the summer of 2018 was a significant factor in his hiring and in the willingness of owner Steve Ballmer to pay West between $4 and $5 million annually. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the team’s plans.

West has developed the reputation as being one of the best front office minds that the NBA has ever seen. He has experienced success at every stop of his career as an executive helping cultivate a high amount of success with the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers are hoping that his presence could help them keep both pending free agents in Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on new lucrative deals if they do choose to hit the open market next month. West possesses a proven track record of helping convince star players to elect to go in the direction he suggests with the most recent being Kevin Durant to the Warriors last summer.

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If he's able to help convince Paul and Griffin both to stay, it would allow for the Clippers to have a more realistic chance next summer of bringing in James, who could reportedly make the jump to Los Angeles next offseason in free agency. There are plenty of major decisions ahead of the Clippers, and it's clear that West will play a big part of that.

All in all, there are plenty of major decisions ahead for the Clippers that could have a huge impact on the franchise's future outlook, and it's clear that West will play a big part of that.