Ready for another year of the Golden State Warriors running roughshod over the NBA? Because that shit’s happening.
The Warriors have thrown the bank at Kevin Durant, who has agreed to a two-year contract with the Bay Area-based NBA Champions worth an eye-watering US$53 million, as revealed by Chris Haynes of ESPN earlier this morning.
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
The real kicker? That figure represents old mate actually leaving cash on the table. In fact, he’s taking a pay cut.
The contract is, in essence, a one-year deal that’ll see him get paid US$25 million for the 2017-18 season, with a player-option to trigger a second year should he choose to.
That is a whopping US$9.5 million *less* than his maximum allowed contract of US$34.5 million per season.
It’s also around US$6.8 million below what experts previously believed he’d be getting paid next year. And it’s even US$1.54 million below the figure he pocketed for on-court efforts this past season.
Despite the dick-achingly high salary he’s getting paid, the figure represents a major sacrifice for Durant, and one made that allows the side to aggressively pursue another championship.
Leaving that amount of cash on the table has allowed the Warriors enough cap space to re-sign crucial supporting players Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, both of whom play integral roles in backing up the Warriors’ behemoth-like triple threat of Durant, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson.
There was never any serious chatter about Durant lining up for any other side next season, but the monetary sacrifice is a fairly good indication that the Warriors have every intent on going full-dynasty mode.
The (relatively) low pay day for KD could only last another season, however. The player-option clause that reportedly covers the second year of this deal means Durant could again test the waters on free agency in twelve months.
But hey! Another sixty-five win Warriors season! Great! Super! Can’t wait!
Source: ESPN.
Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty.
