Kevin Durant is not leaving the Golden State Warriors.
However, the two-time Finals MVP is not locking himself in for the long-term, either.
A player of Durant’s standing can dictate the terms of his contract and he wants a max offer from the Warriors — but on a one-plus-one deal, not a long-term contract, according to multiple reports. Marc Stein of the New York Times was first.
Kevin Durant plans to tell the Warriors after 12:01 a.m. ET that he wants a new one-year contract with a player option for 2019-20 to return to free agency next summer, @NYTSports has learned
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2018
Durant is expected to be one of the first deals struck when the NBA's free-agent marketplace opens Sunday at 12:01 a.m. ET. Warriors GM Bob Myers has said repeatedly since Golden State's second consecutive title that Durant will get "whatever he wants" contract-wise https://t.co/kf0iiQjTne
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2018
The new deal would pay Durant $30.5 million next season and allow the two-time reigning Finals MVP to return to free agency in July 2019 -- three months before Golden State moves into the new Chase Center in San Francisco https://t.co/Q3qklVsrkz
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2018
That $30 million salary would be a $5 million discount he’s again giving the Warriors this year.
Durant averaged 26.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game, with a ridiculously efficient true shooting percentage of 64 and a PER of 26. Put simply, he is one of the three best players walking the face of the earth, and that may be underselling him.
Durant can get another max contract from the Warriors in 2019, but that summer the Warriors have to pay Klay Thompson as well. Max both of them out (Thompson has hinted he will take a discount) and throw in the repeater tax and the Warriors could have a record and staggering $350 million salary and tax bill come due.
Which is the cost of having a championship team, and in the new building ownership will pay it. For a little while.