Kevin Durant isn’t signing new deal with Warriors until they complete offseason work

Andre Ward v Sergey Kovalev 2

Kevin Durant isn’t rushing into his new deal with the Golden State Warriors.

This isn’t as dramatic as it might sound on first pass—the man might just want to take his time celebrating his new championship ring.

Here’s Marc Stein of ESPN with the report targeting late July:

Make no mistake, Durant isn’t a threat to leave the Warriors. More like he’s being a team player and waiting to see how the organization’s finances shake out before getting paid.

Here’s ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explaining the numbers:

Durant’s situation is a little complicated, but what you need to know is that if he’s willing to accept a salary of $31.8 million for next season instead of his “max” of about $34.7 million, then the Warriors will be freed up to re-sign their key players.

Durant taking less than the max would mean the Warriors have room to keep around key title pieces like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston for another season, though even the flexibility there might be unable to stop the former from starting a bidding war on the open market.

Since he’s made it clear he wants to stay with the team and has set up plenty of roots with businesses in the area, this isn’t Durant pulling a LeBron and pressuring the front office into moves.

It’s simply business, with Durant perhaps taking less money than he should while potentially increasing the odds the Warriors can compete for another title.

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