Kevin Durant is going to be a busy man over the next day or so. On Friday evening, Durant and Team USA will take the floor against France in the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics. Once that’s over, his attention will turn to Brooklyn, where Durant plans on getting his future all sorted out with a lucrative contract extension.
Durant’s media outlet Boardroom brought word that the former NBA Finals MVP will preemptively decline the player option that he has in his current contract for the 2022-23 campaign. Instead, he’ll put pen to paper on Saturday on a new four-year extension that will pay him $198 million.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN noted that Durant will become eligible to do this on Saturday, while Bobby Marks of ESPN laid out the financials of the deal, which include Durant spending two years where his salary will eclipse $50 million.
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant plans to sign a four-year, $198 million contract extension sometime after he becomes eligible on Saturday, @RichKleiman tells ESPN.
For more on the deal, go to @Boardroom: https://t.co/99HDz3oVik— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 6, 2021
Here is the breakdown on the Durant extension:
22/23- $44.14M
23/24- $47.64M
24/25- $51.17M
25/26- $54.70MThe first year number is 105% off his $42M salary in 21/22
He is allowed to exceed 35% of the max ($41.65M). https://t.co/i9jlOomG1g
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 6, 2021
Durant joined the Nets as part of a sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors in 2019 on a four-year deal worth $164 million. He missed the entirety of his first season in Brooklyn as he recovered from an achilles injury he suffered in his final game with the Warriors, but last season, Durant showed that he was able to come back from that injury in a big way. He was crucial to the shorthanded Nets nearly making the Eastern Conference Finals and averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per game.
