Kevin Durant Took WAY Less Than The Max To Re-Sign With Warriors For $53 Million

Kevin Durant has reportedly agreed to re-sign with the Golden State Warriors, as the sides have agreed to a two-year contract for around $53 million. The second year of the deal will be a player option, which will allow Durant to opt-out and re-sign again next year if he chooses.

ESPN Sources: Kevin Durant will agree to re-sign with Golden State on a two-year, approximately $53 million deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 3, 2017

The big thing here is that Durant is leaving a ton of money on the table to re-up with the Warriors. The deal is expected to net Durant around $25 million in the first season, but the max was at $34.5 million. So left nearly $10 million on the table in Year 1 of the contract.

Kevin Durant's Warriors contract expected to be $25 million, I’m told, with player option for 2017-18. Max was $34.5 mil. Major sacrifice.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 3, 2017

This shows how important winning was to Durant and how important keeping the team’s core together was. Plus, playing with the Warriors doesn’t seem like a bad gig. The essentially the entire roster re-signed this year after winning a title, so they must enjoy hooping together.

We all knew Durant was going to be back with the Warriors, but his willingness to give up so much money in the process is pretty amazing.