While Kevin Durant is trying to lead Team USA Basketball to a gold medal in Tokyo, he is making it clear that he is staying in Brooklyn for the long haul.
Durant’s website, The Boardroom, announced Friday that the veteran forward will sign a four-year contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets. Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman confirmed that the deal will be worth $198 million. As part of the deal, Durant will decline his player option for 2022-23 and tack on four years to the existing deal instead.
With Durant locked in now, it gives the Nets some flexibility to continue to build a championship caliber team around him. The Nets are currently projected to spend $296 million next season in payroll and luxury taxes, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That is the second-biggest number in NBA history, trailing only next season’s Warriors, as they try to win the franchise’s first NBA championship around Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
The Nets can now focus on locking in Harden and Irving, whom both can opt out of their contracts next season.
