Sources: Kevin Durant to decline option, re-sign with Warriors
— -- OAKLAND, Calif. --? Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant will decline his player option for the 2017-18 season and technically become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but he will re-sign with the team, league sources tell ESPN.
The 2017 NBA Finals MVP will turn down a player-option salary of approximately $28 million to momentarily hit free agency with the intentions of taking less than the max he's eligible for as a 10-year veteran. This is in order to improve the Warriors' chances of re-signing reserve stud Andre Iguodala, league sources told ESPN.
By Durant taking about $4 million less than his max next year and waiting to get his long-term extension for at least another season, the Warriors would be able to use their Bird rights on an Iguodala deal that is far more comparable to what he'd see on the open market.
All signs, according to sources, point to Durant signing another one-plus-one pact, which carries a player-option at the end.
With Durant opting to sacrifice, according to league sources, the Warriors would not need to create room under the cap to re-sign him and thus would not need to renounce their rights to any of their other free agents.
Durant led the Warriors to their second championship in the last three years and in the process, captured his first. The Hamptons 5 -- consisting of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Iguodala, Draymond Green and Durant, who all met together last summer during the free-agency recruiting period -- has a pathway of remaining intact.
The 6-11 forward has said on multiple occasions that he intends to stay with the Warriors for many years, and he has put roots down in the Bay Area both personally and professionally.
Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman have set up their business, the Durant Company, in the Bay Area. He has forged partnerships with California-based companies such as YouTube, Acorns and Postmates. In a New York Times profile this spring, Durant revealed that he is in business with Silicon Valley "super angel" investor Ronald Conway and consulting with Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
