OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 04: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors claps his hands during their preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers at ORACLE Arena on October 4, 2016 in Oakland, California.
The Golden State Warriors can rest easy, as superstar forward Kevin Durant has announced that he plans to re-sign with the team after his current 2-year, $51 million contract is up following this season. Durant told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, “I’m planning on staying with the Warriors, and we’ll figure the rest out.”
This doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, given the fact that the Warriors are still the best team in the NBA and are on the cusp of winning their third NBA Finals championship in 4 years. In April, reports indicated that Durant planned on declining the player option attached to his current contract in order to sign a new, restructured deal with Golden State at season’s end. So yeah, there was never much doubt about his decision, but now it’s all but set in stone.
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Durant’s announcement comes after a marvelous NBA Finals Game 3 in which he scored 43 points on 65.2% shooting (while going 6-9 from 3-point range), snagging 13 boards, and dishing out 7 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He rose to the occasion exactly as the Warriors needed him to, with fellow superstars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both having extremely off games. Durant’s performance was so good that it warranted a statement from LeBron James in which The King said, “Kevin Durant is one of the best players I’ve ever played against, that this league has ever seen.”
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Durant has a few options when it comes to his contract going into next season. He could sign a similar contract to the one he’s finishing up right now, a 2-year deal with a player option at its conclusion. He could also go with a 3-year deal with a player option after his second season. Or he could sign a max deal worth $158 million over 4 years. No matter which option he takes, the Warriors are all but guaranteed to continue being the NBA’s most dominant team for at least the next few years.
You can see whether or not Game 4 of the NBA Finals will be Durant’s last matchup on his current contract tonight, as the Warriors look to sweep the Cavs in Cleveland at 9:00 pm EST on ABC.
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