By Jorge Flores on June 1, 2016
Fresh off an incredible Western Conference Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder, murmurs of Kevin Durant’s free agency status have grown louder and more speculative. After all, the NBA is a year-round league now and the offseason storylines can be just as fun as the actual games being played.
As huge of a story as Durant’s free agency will be all
summer, it’s not all that interesting when considering how simple of a decision
he has to make. It all boils down to a simple question – will he stay or will
he go? There’s a simple answer to this question too.
In 2016, Kevin Durant will stay with the Oklahoma City
Thunder, and there are obvious financial and basketball related reasons why he
will.
If he waits until next summer, Kevin Durant can sign a max deal worth over $200M with the Thunder pic.twitter.com/ljZFVE7do5— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 31, 2016
First of all, as Bleacher Report tweeted out, staying in OKC will greatly benefit Durant from a financial standpoint.
Given that he is going to enter his tenth NBA season, he’ll be eligible for a
‘super max’ contract that takes up at least 30% of a team’s salary cap. The cap
is making a huge leap this season and next season, which is why OKC will be
able to offer him a five-year deal worth $150
or $208 million, respectively. OKC’s major advantage in retaining Durant
is their ability to offer him a fifth year, which no other team can do.
However, that doesn’t mean he can’t make a ton of money elsewhere. As shown
above, Durant can sign a four-year, $110 million deal with any other team in
the league.
There’s an option that isn’t quite mentioned above, and it’s
potentially the most beneficial to KD. When considering his decision, Durant
and his financial team will undoubtedly mull over the idea of signing a
one-year deal worth close to $30 million this summer (no matter what team),
with an added player-option on a second year. This would allow him to test the
free agency market again next season, essentially putting him in the exact
contractual situation he’s in right now. The cap is projected to shoot up again
even higher next summer, meaning he can sign a long-term deal for even more
money than he’d be able to this summer. Doing this would also line up his free
agency with those of teammates Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.
From a basketball standpoint, it makes just as much sense
for Durant to stay in OKC for at least another year. The Thunder just came off
an amazing playoff run, and were minutes away (in Game 6 of the Western
Conference Finals) from making the NBA Finals with a real shot at winning the
championship. Why not try to make another run with this team?
Durant: "The most important thing to me is the type of people I'm going to be around every single day."— Royce Young (@royceyoung) June 1, 2016
Durant on OKC: "It's home. I've been here for eight years. Time has flown by. Time flies when you're having fun."— Royce Young (@royceyoung) June 1, 2016
Royce Young of ESPN.com chronicled OKC’s exit interviews on
Wednesday, quoting Durant as he discussed what matters to him when thinking
about what kind of team he’ll play for next season. He also added that he enjoys playing in OKC, presumably with people he
enjoys playing with everyday, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that he
could be pulled back there for another year.
Expect KD to pull a LeBron James and move forward with a
one-year deal this summer, just to test free agency again next season. He’ll
still be able to make about $200 million over the next five years regardless of
whether he signs long-term with OKC this summer or with any team in the NBA
next summer. He’ll also be able to make one more run at the Larry O’Brien trophy
alongside the core OKC General Manager Sam Presti has worked hard to build.
Durant’s free agency is intriguing primarily because
everyone wants to believe that he’s going to leave OKC for a new team and
shakeup the NBA landscape, and he very well could. It’s just not likely to
happen this summer.
Fans in OKC have dealt with a ton of on-court heartbreak,
but they won’t have to deal with Durant leaving them behind…
At least not yet.
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