Finals MVP gets in the last word
The Chronicle is reviewing the season of each Warriors player after the team’s championship run.
Last summer, when he signed with Golden State after eight seasons with Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant quickly learned that he had made himself a target by putting his personal interests first.
Thunder fans burned his jersey, wrote “coward” on the “For Sale” sign outside his house and questioned his character. Even outside Oklahoma City, a player long considered one of the NBA’s most likable superstars was vilified. In those early months with Golden State, seldom did a day pass without an ESPN pundit deriding his decision.
All the chatter didn’t prevent Durant from transitioning smoothly. Though he missed
five weeks in the second half of the regular season with a left knee injury, Durant was arguably the Warriors’ most consistent player when healthy. One of the best scorers in NBA history emerged as an elite interior defender.
Durant finished as Golden State’s leader in scoring and free throws made and attempted He was second in rebounds, blocks and three-point field goals, and third in assists. In the playoffs, he was downright dominant. He was the unanimous Finals MVP after averaging 35.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in the five-game series against the Cavaliers.
Offseason outlook: Durant is expected to decline his player option for next season and become an unrestricted free agent on Saturday before resigning with the Warriors.
He will probably sign for a little less than $32 million, the most he can make in 2017-18 without Golden State needing to create cap space. The likeliest scenario has Durant signing another two-year deal with a player option in the second year to make himself eligible for another one-plus-one contract in 2018 starting at roughly $35.7 million. He could sign a five-year, supermax deal at an estimated $217 million starting in 2019-20.
By waiting to sign his longterm extension and taking almost $4 million less than his maximum for next season, Durant would enable the Warriors to potentially use their Bird rights to re-sign free agents such as Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston for deals that more closely align with their free-agent values. It would also allow Warriors guard Stephen Curry, one of the league’s most underpaid superstars at around $11 million per year, to sign a “supermax” contract starting at $35.4 million per season.
All signs point to Durant spending the rest of his prime years with Golden State.