Kevin Durant Contract: 9-Time All-Star Confirms He Will Re-Sign With Warriors

The Golden State Warriors received a massive boost Thursday after Kevin Durant confirmed he will remain with the reigning champions for the 2018-19 season despite having an opt-out option in his contract.

The Warriors’ small forward signed a restricted two-year discounted $51m contract prior to the start of the current campaign and it included a clause where he could opt-out of it after the first year.

ESPN reported earlier Durant could exercise his clause to become a restricted free agent this summer and re-sign with the Warriors on a restructured deal. However, the nine-time All-Star confirmed after the Warriors’ Game 3 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers that he will stay for the upcoming campaign.

“I'm planning on staying with the Warriors, and we'll figure the rest out,” Durant told ESPN on Thursday.

During the same interview he also revealed the “small details” are yet to be figured out.

Durant made the sacrifice and took $10m less than he could have earned with a max salary last year, and his decision enabled the Warriors to retain forward Andre Iguodala and backup point guard Shaun Livingston.

The 29-year-old’s decision to stay will come as a massive boost to the Warriors as they look to wrap up the NBA Finals against the Cavaliers. They currently lead the best of seven series 3-0 with Durant playing key role in helping them dominate the LeBron James-led side.

The Warriors forward is averaging 29.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists during the playoffs, and is coming off on the back of a 43-point game which also included 13 rebounds and seven assists. He singlehandedly took the Bay Side team to victory in Game 3 after Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggled managing just 11 and 10 points respectively.

“We all have an opportunity to do what we do and do it well and put ourselves in position to win championships,” Curry said talking about Durant after Wednesday’s Game 3. “Tonight was not my night offensively. It was his night.”

“You encourage each other along the way, and we appreciate what we bring out of each other. We could talk about him all night. He was amazing,” the star point guard added.

The Warriors will certainly not want to lose Durant, who is among the top players in the league at the moment. ESPN claimed Durant can sign a new deal this summer and one of the options would be to sign a four-year max contract valued at $158m. He could also sign another two-year deal with a player option or a three-year with an option after the second year.