Suns forward Kevin Durant won’t sign a contract extension before the regular season begins, Shams Charania said during an appearance on Friday’s episode of NBA Today on ESPN (YouTube link).
As we outlined on Thursday, Durant – who has two years left on his current maximum-salary deal – is eligible until October 21 to sign a one-year extension worth up to $59.5MM. If he doesn’t sign that extension by Monday, his next opportunity to extend his contract will come during the 2025 offseason.
Durant downplayed the likelihood of completing a deal this fall, but has expressed “publicly and privately how much he loves Phoenix,” according to Charania, who suggests that both the former MVP and the team are focused on getting something done next offseason, when Durant could add two new years to his current contract for a total of $123.8MM.
The Over-38 rule prohibits Durant from signing any deal that would keep him under contract for four or more total years going forward.
Here are a few more of the latest updates on players who are eligible for contract extensions:
- The Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga remain “far apart” in their extension negotiations, according to Charania, who said during that same NBA Today segment that there’s a sense Kuminga may enter the season without a new deal in place, putting him on track for restricted free agency in 2025. Charania adds that the Warriors forward is comfortable with the idea of betting on himself in 2024/25 and trying to earn a maximum-salary contract – or something close to it – next summer. Moses Moody appears “much more likely” than Kuminga to sign an extension with Golden State before Monday’s deadline, per Charania.
- The Rockets have had “productive” conversations with both Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green and have made extension offers that would provide them with long-term financial security, according to Charania. However, Charania notes that those offers are below the max, so Sengun and Green will have to decide whether they’re willing to accept those deals or if they want to push for bigger paydays by opting for restricted free agency.
- The Nuggets and forward Aaron Gordon are in “active conversations” about an extension, per Charania. Gordon is eligible to sign for up to $143.3MM on a four-year deal that would begin in 2025/26, though ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that Denver is hoping to get him to accept a little less than that. “They haven’t handed out that (max) offer,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “Otherwise he would have signed it. From what I understand, they are negotiating and they’re hopeful of getting him at less than what would be his quote, unquote max.”
- In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of this year’s top extension candidates and shares the offers he’d put on the table for several of them, including $148MM for Jalen Johnson, $128MM for Josh Giddey, and a whopping $165MM for Jalen Suggs (all five-year deals).
I was hoping for the opposite with the Warriors than what’s written in the article here. Nimber 1 hoping that Moody was far apart and they would let him play out the season and determine his value next summer.
Then #2, they would be close to signing JK because I think he has established himself as an NBA player with consistent production. He’s shown a lot in the preseason.
But this is all just talk right now. Verbal judo. We’ll see what happens by Monday.
JK wants a max which after what happened with Poole they are a little hesitant to give it out. He can be great at times but others he still has not shown consistent play. He could be a piece traded to Bucks for Giannis if he comes available.
Yes I agree. After seeing the man everyday for the last 3 years they know exactly who he is. If they don’t want to give him the max then let him go get it elsewhere and the Warriors can match if they want or match any lesser offer he gets. No problem.
One thing they could count on possibly if they don’t extend him is that he’ll be performing at a high level because of the contract year thing. No chance of him cruising with a three or five year deal in his hip pocket. I’m not saying he’s that kind of guy but the Warriors hopefully can sense the vibe.
Gary, an interesting discussion for us all: teams strongly favor signing a young player before, not after, the 4th season because there are risks that go beyond the players value going up.
An NBA player’s 4th year is unique in that the team’s and player’s economic interests are NOT aligned. Because the player’s free agency is restricted, it can be in the team’s interest to devalue a player that it intends to keep — easily done by restricting the player’s minutes. (The problem of teams intentionally devaluing players is addressed in the CBA for every major sport, BTW. It happens. For example, Donte Devincenzo accused the Kings of it.)
Whether the team intends to do this doesn’t matter so much as the player’s perception that this is happening. And that can damage a player’s/agent’s relationship with a team irreparably. We know that both Kuminga’s and Moody’s agents expressed their dissatisfaction with the Warriors last year, so the potential for friction with both feels substantial.
Last night at half-time on ESPN’s national broadcast, Kendrick Perkins argued that Kuminga was the obvious #2 scorer on the Warriors, raved about his upside, mentioned the All-Star team, etc, but suggested that Steve Kerr mistakenly doesn’t see it that way. Right or wrong, the difference in public perception of Kuminga’s talent only fuels this fire.
Signing a potential RFA before the last year aligns the parties’ interests. And, it makes the players more tradable.
Poole wasnt even a max and the JK max is like 200M+ so its a pretty big contract. I think you sign JK if he will take like 5/160, but otherwise make him show he is worth a full max since the Nets are the only team with space. Moody on like a 3/41 or something like what Coby White got is a totally awesome contract that I would do any day.
arc89 said. “JK wants the max.”
Respectfully, nobody really believes that. It was reported on this site, unsourced, that his agent said that at one point, which is exactly what agents say. If Kuminga’s camp was insisting on the max, there wouldn’t be ongoing negotiations with the Warriors.
At some point, maybe as late as 8 months from now, his market value will be established and the Warriors will sign him.
The question is if there is ANY reasonable offer for Kuminga, something like 5 for $150m. If so how in the world can he not take it?? Warriors might not have made any decent offer because of flexibility of mid season trade, but that in itself is not a vote of confidence. Let’s see, it will be a fun weekend.
The Brooklyn Nets are every Rfa teams boogey man for next year
Probably the best leverage JK and fellow RFA crew has today. There’s really no other team with deep pockets next year to inflate the market
C&C , yes on the Nets as the obvious “it only takes one” boogeyman.
But I’m not sold on the idea that this upcoming summer creates limited opportunities for JK:
– There are rebuilding teams with massive available cap space, like Detroit, Charlotte, San Antonio, and (likely, soon), Chicago, who could either offer Kuminga themselves or enable other teams, including via dumping of unwanted players.
– Salary cap goes up $10M, with a higher yr-to-yr rate of increase for the future. Every team expects increased spending (and over-spending.)
My point: the Warriors are, prudently, working on the assumption that there would be offers from other teams next summer.
Michol, Kuminga and his agents can reasonably assume that the market will pay significantly more than 5 for $150M.
We can disagree about what Kuminga is worth TODAY, but his performance this season will set his market value. Last year, he scored at the rate of 22 points / 34 minutes, and over 21 ppg in his starts. As a starter this year, a small improvement, would establish him as a 20 ppg player, and at only 22 years old.
Laugh, but in this highly plausible scenario, there will be teams willing to pay him $45/yr
NBA players are the most overpaid in sports. Just handing out max deals because they are available. No way Kuminga is worth a max deal and neither is Durant. 2 years at 60M for Durant age 37-38 is crazy! Kuminga is a glorified role player
Its a top heavy game. Steph and Bron at their peaks were wildly underpaid and should have made like 4x the max for the value they provided. The best players are worth soooooo much.
Chapmans, Yes!
Here’s another: the best values of all are the stars in the last 2-3 years of their rookie extensions:
* Tatum & Brown were paid in the low 30M’s this last year, in year 4 and 5, respectively. Tatum will still be in the low 30M’s this year, even though he’s signed a contract that kicks in next year that will reach > $70M.
* SGA at $35M this season, $39M next
Extensions seem inflated in year 1. But because of year-over-year inflation in salary and the young player’s improvement, they are typically a great deal by year 3.