The Mailman delivered his decision.

A league source told ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher that Karl Malone has decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

Malone, the NBA's second-leading all-time scorer, will join Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Gary Payton with the Lakers, who won three consecutive NBA titles before losing in the playoffs to San Antonio this year.

Payton, a nine-time NBA All-Star, committed earlier this week to join the Lakers.

The first day free agents can sign contracts is next Wednesday.

Malone showed strong interest in the Lakers from the start of the free-agent negotiations on July 1, to a degree that the Hall of Fame-bound power forward is apparently willing to join the dethroned champions for a mere $1.5 million -- a cut of almost $18 million from his 2002-03 salary.

The $1.5 million figure is the most L.A. could offer Malone next season after committing its $4.9 million mid-level exception to Payton. Malone would have likely been able to get more money if he signed with San Antonio, Sacramento or Dallas.

The Jazz were exploring sign-and-trade possibilities (with the Kings) and the Lakers' three West rivals were hesitant to let Malone join L.A.'s new star trio unopposed.

But it was believed that Malone, who turns 40 on July 24, wasn't considering re-signing with the Jazz for less than the $8 million earned by John Stockton in his final season.

With Malone signing elsewhere, and with Stockton opting for retirement, Utah likely has nearly $20 million in salary-cap space to undertake a dramatic restructuring of its roster.

ESPN.com senior writer Marc Stein contributed to this report.