The newly minted NBA champions and NBA Finals MVP is enjoying the fruits of his labor and his status at the top of the NBA pecking order, a feeling that he assuredly wants to continue to experience for years to come.
That mindset is clear according to a report from ESPN’s Chris Haynes, as Durant is willing to re-sign for less than the max with the Golden State Warriors in order to enable them to be able to use their Bird Rights to re-sign fellow free agents Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
ICYMI: Kevin Durant will reportedly decline his option and then re-sign with the Warriors https://t.co/QuHlvpMPHf pic.twitter.com/wski4teVIY
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 20, 2017
Here is a quote from Haynes’s piece on ESPN.com:
“Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant will decline his player option for the 2017-18 season and technically become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but he will re-sign with the team, league sources tell ESPN.
All signs, according to sources, point to Durant signing another one-plus-one pact, which carries a player-option at the end.”
This means Durant would likely re-sign for the Non-Bird Exception, which would pay him $31,848,120 next season instead of his projected max salary of more than $35 million. Golden State would need cap space in order to offer Durant the full max and be able to use their Bird Rights in order to re-sign Iguodala or Livingston.
Much to the chagrin of the rest of the NBA, it seems no parts of this Warriors dynasty are going anywhere in the near future.
