Kevin Durant plans 4-year, $ 198 million extension with Brooklyn Nets, manager says

Kevin Durant plans to sign a maximum four-year, $ 198 million contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets sometime after he became eligible on Saturday, his longtime business director and co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures said. and Boardroom, Rich Kleiman, to Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN.

Durant is expected to decline his 2022-23 player option and extend his salary by $ 42 million for the 2021-22 season.

Durant, who is set to play for a third gold for the United States team in Tokyo against France on Friday night, has been spectacular on his return to the pitch this season. He missed his first season in Brooklyn while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals in Toronto while still playing for the Golden State Warriors.

He ended up playing just 35 regular season games for Brooklyn last season due to a combination of COVID-19 absences and a hamstring injury, but Durant averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists and made his 11th All-Star appearance.

Durant then averaged 34.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 12 playoff games for the Nets, including arguably the greatest performance of his legendary career – a 49-point triple-double, 17 rebounds and 10 assists while playing the 48 minutes. of a 114-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He then played the 53 minutes of Brooklyn’s overtime loss in Game 7, scoring 48 more points – including a tying shot in the last second of regulation to force the extra session.

The Nets are currently expected to spend $ 296 million next season on payroll taxes and luxury goods, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It’s the second-highest number in NBA history, behind next season’s Warriors as they try to win the franchise’s first NBA Championship around Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Irving joined Durant in Brooklyn as a free agent two years ago, and the Nets executed a successful trade with the Houston Rockets to land Harden in January.

Irving and Harden will also be eligible to sign contract extensions with Brooklyn this offseason.

Durant made the official announcement on The Boardroom.