Kevin Durant Sacrifices $30 Million, Signs Two-Year Extension With…

Kevin Durant revealed last month he expected to sign an extension. (AP Photo)

Kevin Durant aims to stay in Houston for more than a year and has sacrificed over $30 million in negotiations to make it happen.

Durant has signed a contract extension that could keep the four-time scoring champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist with the Rockets until the 2027-28 season, the team announced on Sunday.

The deal is a two-year extension, with the second year being Durant’s option, according to an anonymous source who spoke to The Associated Press, as the Rockets didn’t disclose these details.

ESPN, which first reported the agreement, cited Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman and stated the deal could be worth $90 million. If Durant plays both seasons as planned, that $90 million would bring his on-court earnings to nearly $600 million—potentially an NBA record, depending on LeBron James’s career longevity.

Durant, a 15-time All-Star and one of only seven players in NBA history with that many selections, was eligible for an extension worth up to $122 million. He opted for a lesser amount to provide the Rockets with more flexibility for future deals.

“Generous guy,” Rockets forward Amen Thompson commented to reporters in Houston on Sunday.

The new deal had been anticipated since Durant chose to join the Rockets, which led to a trade for him this past summer. Last season, Houston was the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed after a 52-30 record, ending a five-year playoff drought. Under coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets are 93-71 over two seasons, following a 59-177 record in the previous three seasons.

“I think we all knew when we traded for him and when he came here it wasn’t a short-term thing,” Udoka said. “Good to get to a point where everybody’s happy and hopefully he finishes his career here.”

Durant mentioned at the Rockets’ media day last month that he expected to sign an extension.

“Just seeing the quick progression of this franchise from where it was right after that James Harden-Chris Paul era, seeing when Ime got here and how he turned it around so fast… it just felt organic and natural coming into the gym and being a Houston Rocket for the first time,” Durant said.

Durant is eighth on the NBA all-time scoring list and has a realistic chance to climb to No. 5 this season; currently at 30,571 points, he trails No. 7 Wilt Chamberlain by 848 points, No. 6 Dirk Nowitzki by 989 points, and No. 5 Michael Jordan by 1,721 points.

Durant averaged 26.6 points last season, his 17th in the NBA, excluding a year missed due to injury. For his career, the 6-foot-11 forward has averages of 27.2 points and seven rebounds per game.

Signing with Houston brought Durant back to Texas, where he played his one year of college basketball for the Longhorns and was named college player of the year before being selected as the No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft by Seattle.

Houston is his fifth franchise, following the SuperSonics (who later became the Oklahoma City Thunder), Golden State, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. Durant won two NBA championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018 and became the highest-scoring player in U.S. Olympic basketball history last year, also being the first men’s player to be part of four gold-medal basketball teams.

Having the option to play until 2028 also raises the possibility that Durant might consider playing for the U.S. at the Los Angeles Olympics.

With AP Inputs