There is no substitute for having fun at work.
Kevin Durant, who is due for a possible $35.4 million per year contract next season, is willing to take a pay cut on his next contract to keep the Warriors’ core intact, according to a report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Chris Haynes.
By taking approximately $4 million less than his max next year and waiting to get his long-term extension for at least another season, Durant would allow the Warriors a chance to use their Bird rights to re-sign their own free agents (mostly notably Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston) to deals far more comparable to what they’d likely see on the open market.
If Durant does indeed take that $4 million cut, it would give Golden State flexibility to keep their top six players, even while still signing Steph Curry to a five-year “supermax” deal this offseason, that would pay him 35-percent of next year’s projected $101 million salary cap, around $205 million over the next five years.
With the cut, Durant would be paid a little less than $32 million for next season, likely as part of a two-year deal with a player option for 2018-19. Durant would then be eligible for another one-plus-one deal in 2018-19, starting at an estimated $35.7 million and a five-year, supermax contract of his own, starting at approximately $217 in 2019-20, according to ESPN.
Were Durant to decide not to take a small cut, the Warriors would have make room in the salary cap to sign KD for next season, leaving no room to sign either Iguodala or Livingston, something that could severely affect the team’s depth moving forward.
Though it is unknown at this time exactly how Durant is planning on structuring his contracts for the foreseeable future, it is believed he is willing to do what it takes to keep both Livingston and Iguodala around for the next couple years.