Report: Durant to decline player option, restructure deal with Warriors
Kevin Durant will reportedly hit unrestricted free agency this summer, but he won't be on the market for long.
The four-time NBA scoring champion and reigning Finals Most Valuable Player will decline his $26.2-million player option with the Golden State Warriors for the 2018-19 season, sources told ESPN's Chris Haynes.
Durant isn't going anywhere, though, as he's reportedly declining his option in order to restructure his contract.
His current deal, which he inked last summer, was for a discounted $51 million over two years. That gave the Warriors the financial wiggle room to re-sign important role players Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
It's highly unlikely Durant will agree to such a low salary again, since - as Haynes notes - there's no reason for him to do so this offseason.
Golden State closed the season Tuesday night with a 40-point loss to the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Over the campaign, Durant averaged a team-high 26.4 points on nearly 50 percent shooting along with 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.8 rejections in 34.2 minutes per game.