AUGUST 8: Durant’s extension is official, the Nets announced.
“We know who he is. Kevin Durant will establish his legacy in Brooklyn as one of the greatest ever,” owner Joe Tsai said. “On behalf of the Nets organization, my family and our fans, we are excited and humbled to see a lot of Kevin for years to come.”
“Kevin is a transcendent talent who continues to drive and push this franchise and the game of basketball globally,” added general manager Sean Marks. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with him for years to come. Kevin’s impact both on and off the court cannot be overstated. His unparalleled drive and leadership generate sustained excellence from himself while also elevating the performance of his teammates, positioning this organization to continue the pursuit of our championship goals in Brooklyn.”
AUGUST 6: The Nets and Kevin Durant are in agreement on a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension that will go into effect during the 2022/23 season, according to Shlomo Sprung of The Boardroom. Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman confirmed the deal, which will replace the star forward’s ’22/23 player option.
Durant will be eligible for a 5% raise on his 2021/22 salary of $42MM, so his new deal will start at about $44.1MM in ’22/23. That figure exceeds the default maximum salary for a player with 10+ years of experience, but a player’s individual maximum salary on a new contract is always at least 105% of his previous salary.
In total, Durant’s new extension will be worth $197.7MM over four years and will cover his age 34-37 seasons.
Durant, who signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the Nets in 2019, missed his entire first season in Brooklyn while recovering from an Achilles tear and was limited to just 35 regular season games in 2020/21. However, he looked like his old self in those games, averaging 26.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 5.6 APG, and 1.3 BPG on a scorching .537/.450/.882 shooting line.
In 12 postseason games, Durant put up 34.3 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 1.6 BPG on .514/.402/.871 shooting, but he couldn’t quite lead the Nets past the eventual-champion Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, despite a 48-point performance in a Game 7 overtime loss.
All three Brooklyn stars are eligible for contract extensions this offseason. Now that they have a deal in place for Durant, the Nets figure to shift their focus to trying to lock up James Harden and Kyrie Irving as well.
Hooray
Brooklyn is the total destination for every body in basketball
That explains why everyone is going to the Clippers instead.
Like who ? The nets are much more likely to be the dynasty clippers fans never had any reason to dream of having lol !
The Nets need to reach the ECF first before they have any chance of being a dynasty. And even then their window has become increasingly small. Despite re-signing Durant, he will be 33 next season and his durability has become a huge problem lately. Harden used to be one of the more durable players in the NBA, but last season he also missed a ton of games and he’ll be 32 in a few weeks.
Sure but clippers are likely to go 3 years into the Kawhi and pg13 with nothing to show for it bc of the Kawhi injury! That team had no right to even talk mini dynasty! Nets can at least hope for it they are favorites now and are more likely then clippers to at least get one title with their core of stars
Weak East Playoffs 3 tiers – my take
Tier 1
Nets, Bucks, Heat
Heat add Lowry and Tucker
Tier 2
Hawks
76ers
Bulls
Tier 3
Pacers
Knicks
Celtics
Celtics could miss playoffs. 76ers upgrade nothing.
Exciting! I figure Kyrie and The Beard will follow. As long as they remain healthy and can afford other players, there could be a few titles in their future.
But according to Marty, he was going to opt out of that option and sign with the Warriors. And Kawhi was going to do the same. Wha’ happened?
How boring would a Marty NBA be. Warriors would have every star. They would win Chips all the time. And Curry would win every award ……. Not even Curry wants that.
Not a big KD guy. But after last yr. I’m convinced he’s one best killer scorers ever. Been around a while, seen plenty. He’s unique in his body and talent. And he just gets it done. KD is a once in a lifetime talent. Enjoy it lols. Let’s see if he wins over NYC.
I can tell you Dr J did it. “The Doctor”
If he stays for that whole deal and manages a championship, I think he could win over NYC. Big ‘ifs’, though, especially considering his health and the health of Kyrie and Harden.
It pains me to say, as Im not a fan of him off the court, by KD is the best player in the World right now
His series vs Mil this year was probably one of the best series I’ve seen from a player this entire century even tho they lost
Giannis is his only competition with Kawhi hurt , lebron washed up and jokic to inept on defense! So yeah it’s Durant
KD is just an incredible, talented athlete. We miss him with the Warriors…
Nets should have beaten Bucks this yr when they had a chance. The Bucks have learned to win and will be tough to beat going forward. The Nets were cocky and careless after winning the first 2 games of the series against the Bucks.
As great as KD is, he didnt trust his teammates enough in the series against Bucks. Same as Harden who should have played less minutes. Oh well….
KD playing D on Rudy in Olympics. How cool was that. How weird was it USA being the small team. I heard a number in broadcast. That 140 or more NBA players were not American. Definitely shows the world is catching up. Good team ball can always win ONE game. If you watched the Final gm. It was USA defense that played a big role too. Holiday was big on D. Played Fournier tough.
Looked it up. Said 23% are foreign born. 108 players in NBA.
KD is building up his legacy season. Kobe did it in ‘08 by winning MVP, Olympic gold, and the following NBA championship while proving he could do it without Shaq. If I was a betting man… my money is on KD and the Nets in 2022.
Gobert was guarding Doncic seemingly on purpose in the 4th. Doncic was beating Batum but got his left arm beat up himself. He was as charged up as DURANT was cool in their games. Durant made a big impression on international BB fans. He looked like sanity personified!— valuable these days.