Kevin Durant will not be an NBA free agent until 2016, but he is currently in the middle of a different kind of free agency.
Durant’s contract with Nike is expiring and he is being pursued by sports apparel giants Adidas and Under Armour. Nike, of course, wants to retain him. Of the three, UA might be the company to watch here.
The New York Daily News’ Frank Isola reports that Under Armour could offer Durant as much as $30 million a year.
While the number sounds outrageous — and we doubt they would offer him that much — it sure sounds like they mean business in these negotiations.
Under Armour pursuing Durant and potentially signing him could have other implications. UA is based out of Maryland, which is nearby Durant’s hometown of D.C. Ever since LeBron James decided to go home to Cleveland, there has been a lot of noise about Durant one day going to play for the Wizards. Durant even seems to be giving serious consideration to that possibility.
I would be shocked if Durant signed with Under Armour over Nike (with the implication being that UA outbid Nike by a large amount), but I doubt Isola would throw this out there if he didn’t have solid information on the matter. We’ll see what happens.
