Kevin Durant is expected to take less money than he is entitled to when he signs his next deal with the Golden State Warriors, and one report indicates the salary he has agreed to is significantly lower than the maximum.
Multiple sources told Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury News that Durant will not only forgo signing a max contract extension, he will also sign for less than the maximum raise he is entitled to. Durant’s unselfishness is allowing the Warriors to sign Stephen Curry to a max contract worth more than $200 million while also keeping key role players like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
More from Thompson:
Durant, according to multiple sources, is not just passing on the new maximum contract he could get, which would start at $34.65 million. His plan is to also pass on taking the maximum raise he is eligible for, which would start his salary at $31.6 million.
Could he go as low as $28 million? Or $25 million?
The exact figure is being worked out now, but Durant’s willingness to take even less than his expected 20 percent bump is how the Warriors were able to sign Andre Iguodala for $48 million and Shaun Livingston for $24 million, both over three years.
According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Durant’s new deal will be worth roughly $53 million over two years, meaning he is sacrificing about $10 million in the first year and can opt out after that.
ESPN Sources: Kevin Durant will agree to re-sign with Golden State on a two-year, approximately $53 million deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 3, 2017
Initial reports predicted Durant would sign for something close to $31 million per year, but he apparently is taking far less than that.
No one is weeping for Durant, as he is still going to make a ton of money and has already made more than $135 million in his career on the court alone. Still, his willingness to take less will allow the Warriors to keep their championship core together and avoid major problems like this going forward.
