Account
Kevin Durant Reportedly Confirms He'll Sign New Contract with Warriors in Summer
June 7, 2018
With the 2017-18 NBA season nearing its end and free agency soon to follow, there figures to be little drama involving Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant this summer.
According to ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Durant intends to re-sign with Golden State:
Last summer, the reigning NBA Finals MVP signed a one-plus-one deal, with $25 million due in the first year. That was nearly $10 million below the max, a discount that helped the team keep a fellow Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, in the Bay Area.
Durant's unofficial commitment to the Warriors is nothing new. He has gone on the record several times to express his desire to stay with the organization.
He told The Athletic's Anthony Slater back in March that there was a 100 percent chance he'd re-sign with Golden State. On Wednesday, the former NBA MVP once again let his intentions be known, via USA Today's Sam Amick, although he acknowledged there are no guarantees when it comes to business:
"Yeah, yeah. I feel as though (I am). Everything, the money and stuff that's got to, the contract got to (be) worked out, but I plan on being here. I said that earlier this year. I didn't plan on anything else. But this is the NBA, and anything can happen. And I know that anything can happen, (because) I've been a part of this league for so long now."
In that interview, the 6'9", 240-pound forward revealed that losing to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals would not have impacted his decision.
It's easy to understand why Durant wants to remain with Golden State. After making the Finals just once in nine seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, he has reached the stage in each of his first two years with the Warriors. He already has one ring and a Finals MVP to show for it, with the possibility adding one more of each this month if his team can win another game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Durant is shooting more than four percentage points higher as a Warrior than he did as a SuperSonic/Thunder, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Co. spacing out defenses and getting him more open looks. Not only that, he has posted the two highest shooting percentages of his career since switching uniforms. His 41.9 percent from beyond the arc this season was his highest since his second season as a pro.
In other words, Durant's game has gone to another level as a Warrior, and he is adding to his ring collection. No wonder he wants to remain with Golden State.