Warriors forward Kevin Durant will decline his team option for the 2019/20 season and will become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The option would have paid Durant a salary worth $31.5MM, per Basketball Insiders.
[RELATED: NBA Player Option Decisions For 2019/20]
While there was some speculation after Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the NBA Finals that picking up his option could become a more viable path, he was always expected to turn it down. Even in the wake of his Achilles tear, which is expected to sideline him for all of the 2019/20 season, KD figures to field multiple long-term, maximum-salary offers on the open market.
Currently, Durant and business manager Rich Kleiman are in New York evaluating their options for free agency, per Wojnarowski. Woj writes that Durant’s camp is keeping the process private, while Anthony Slater of The Athletic hears from sources that KD has yet to make a final decision on where he wants to continue his NBA career.
The Warriors can – and likely will – offer Durant a five-year contract worth a projected $221MM+. Although there have been some rumblings that the circumstances surrounding Durant’s calf and Achilles injuries resulted in a breakdown in trust between him and the Warriors, that doesn’t appear to be the case, according to Wojnarowski. Woj said on ESPN’s free agency special on Tuesday night that the Warriors and KD’s camp have continued to communicate since the injury (Twitter link via Sagar Trika).
Other contenders for Durant will be limited to four-year offers worth up to about $164MM. The Nets and Knicks are viewed as the most likely outside suitors for the two-time Finals MVP, and Chris Mannix of SI.com writes that both teams are expected to offer max deals. The Mavericks will try to get into the mix, per Mannix, though that’s a longer shot. The Clippers are also said to have interest in Durant.
There has been talk for much of the year about the possibility of good friends Durant and Kyrie Irving teaming up for one of the New York teams. Irving is widely believed to be leaning toward signing with the Nets, but it’s not clear if Durant is willing to join him in Brooklyn. The Knicks have been linked more frequently to the All-NBA forward, and they’d still be interested in signing him as a “solo act,” a league source tells Mannix.
Despite some speculation that the Warriors might consider a “delayed sign-and-trade” agreement with Durant in order to get him his full five-year max without necessarily locking him into a long-term stay in the Bay Area, that’s not a concept being seriously explored by Golden State, says Slater. As Slater points out, it would be difficult and awkward and may be viewed as circumvention of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Durant will be able to start talking to teams to schedule meetings as of 6:00pm eastern time on June 29, and could begin taken those meetings – or could reach an agreement with a team – as soon as 6:00pm ET on June 30.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bye golden state
Likely, but not necessarily, because they can still offer him the most.
100% likely
Ok Kevin
It’s only 100% likely in your dreams.
big time wrong
Ten to one he stays. Why would he leave?
Because he wants to lead his own team. GSW will always be Steph’s team
If he does than fine with it. The team that signs him will need to watch from the side lines for a year. It would also give GSW more cap space to improve the bench.
You’ve had this conversation with him?
Steph’s team can’t win without KD though, genius. They literally just lost to a Raptors team that they should/would have swept had KD been there.
Also, KD’s career looks way better being a 2-team than being a 3+ team guy.
They won’t be favored near as much obviously, but I think they could still win with Klay as the number two…But asking them to get it done without KD OR Klay was just too much.
Are we ignoring the fact that they have won without KD? or ignoring that Klay was out too? Willfull ignorance, gotta love it
Klay was out 1 game entirely. Another game he was out 2/3 of it and they lost by a point. SMH with Klay on the court they would have won those 2 games.
hahahaha “steph’s team cant win without kd, genius” haha ok. the ignorance. you sound like charles barkley 4 years ago. how quickly you forget the title they won without durant or the finals they made the next year. now, im not saying they will win again but come on. when a big chunk of your team salary goes to a player who is hurt. its no surprise they didnt win. once they get their books reset the warriors will be able to get a deep bench again like they had when they won their 1st title
“you sound like charles barkley 4 years ago.”
That’s total BS: Steph, Klay and Dray were simply better players before KD joined them, the 2019 editions of them are sloppier and don’t shoot as well – it’s an honest fact that cannot be argued.
Keep in mind I was replying to this crud: “Because he wants to lead his own team. GSW will always be Steph’s team.” – which is dumb and I’m arguing that KD is as important to the Warriors as Steph and the other two are.
This isn’t to say that they are even remotely “bad” now or anything compared to 2014-15, but they need KD or “a” KD-type to get it done now.
Strike Four, you predicted the Warriors were going to sweep the Raptors easily when KD was already out (likely the entire series).
You were wrong then and you’re wrong now. The Raptors dominated them. It would have been way more competitive with KD, but no way were GS sweeping them.
Uh, even missing KD the raptors barely won. With or and klay, its not even close, and everyone knows it
Barely won? They won it in 6, dude. It should have been a Raptor sweep, they blew a big lead in game 2 and Warriors shot 50% threes in game 5 and still only won by one point. Barely won lol
Teaming up with Kyrie? Wherever Irving goes, he seems to think and play it’s his team.
GSW also will not do a sign and trade with Durant. So he is on his own to find a deal. GSW are not willing to spend the cap money tax that would cost them on a sign and trade deal.
“GSW are not willing to spend the cap money tax that would cost them on a sign and trade deal.”
Not even remotely true:
link to sfchronicle.com
That article is about a max contract not a sign and trade contract. 2 different things. On a sign and trade contract they would be taxed and said they will not spend to sign and trade.
I dunno man, you kinda insinuated that GSW are somehow cheap when you said “not willing to spend” – I think you might have confused them with their polar opposite ownership, the A’s ;)
I’m sure they’d actually love to do a sign and trade, because they would actually be able to get some extra pieces that way….that being said, I do not see anyway that a sign and trade actually happens.
No they wouldn’t because the cost of above the tax line would be so much that unless it was a top 5 player in the league it is not worth it.
That’s not even close to accurate. The warriors don’t need another top 5 guy to be annual contenders. They sold luxury boxes in their new arena for a fortune. They are printing money by fielding a dominate team. It doesn’t matter if it’s Steph klay draymond and Durant or if it’s Steph klay draymond and a great bench. The end result is still oodles of money, and saying they will only pay huge money or pay the tax for a top 5 guy runs counter to their strategy to this point. Why would the warriors buy draft picks that almost double in price due to the tax? Stop letting your ignorance and hate blind you.
5-yr/221 mil or 4-yr/164 mil for a guy who will miss the entire season and may not even be the same elite player when he returns is ludicrous! KD is my fav player too btw, but no way I’d pay him or ANYBODY 40+ mil to knowingly sit out an entire year! NBA teams just love to waste money I guess!!! smh
Who’s money are you talking about wasting? Because neither of us should ever give a single care about a billionaire sports team owners money.
Billionaire owner isn’t paying for it. Fans are, while also paying the owner for the priveledge of paying the player.
Bye bye bye
If his dream is to play at MSG, he should probably do it. Umm he should have enough money for the essentials regardless. No kids yet to leave money to. Knicks prob have a 3 & a 5 at least and one more tank year to draft high and one more significant FA slot for this year or next.