Kevin Durant will reportedly sign a contract with the Golden State Warriors that will keep him as one of their star players for two years. The contract is said to be $53 million and experts said it was even lesser than what they thought.
When Durant signed with the Warriors last year, he had a player option and said after the GSW won the 2016-2017 NBA championship weeks ago that he would exercise that option and remain with Golden State. However, other rumors surfaced claiming that he will exercise being an unrestricted free agent, which was never confirmed by the NBA star nor the team.
According to league sources now, they told ESPN that Durant will again possess a player option but that will only be given to him during the second year of his contract with GSW.
Durant’s sacrifice on pay cut will allow GSW to be flexible with capping
League source also said that Durant would have had a $35 million payment due to being eligible for a max contract but he opted to stay with the Warriors at $25 million per year until 2019. Bleacher Report said that Durant also planned to allow GSW to pay him an even lesser amount than the $25 million contract if Andre Iguodala would have chosen to leave the Warriors.
If Iguodala exercised being an unrestricted free agent for the upcoming season, the Golden State Warriors would have pursued Rudy Gay.
Gay is with the Sacramento Kings and it meant a problem for the GSW regarding capping if they did acquire him. They were able to sign Iguodala for a three-year $48 million contract.
Another player that the Warrior was able to keep is Shaun Livingston thanks to Durant’s sacrifice. Livingston will be paid $24 million for the next three years.
If Durant demanded more, Stephen Curry could not sign max deal
Sports Illustrated reported that if Durant demanded the $35 million max deal, Stephen Curry would not have signed with the Warriors for his five-year contract. Curry’s contract is at $201 million.
Draymond Green or Klay Thompson also might not have stayed with the team if Durant wanted the $35 million max deal.
The millions that Durant sacrificed also helped Golden State Warriors to pay lesser in terms of luxury tax.
The GSW now has 11 players for next season namely Durant, Curry, Iguodala, Livingston, Green, Thompson, David West, Patrick McCaw, Damian Jones, Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell, SF Gate reported.
In total, Durant already made more than $135 million in the duration of his career.
