Nets to lock up Durant with 4-year $198 M extension

Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets celebrates his three point shot in the second quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center on February 05, 2021 in New York City.  (Getty Images/AFP

LOS ANGELES – Two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant is poised to sign a four-year, $198 million contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets, his manager said on Friday.

Rich Kleiman said the Nets’ star would decline a player option for the 2022-23 season, while adding four more years to his contract, which would take him through the 2025-26 season.

The 11-time NBA All-Star is at the Tokyo Olympics, leading the US national team into the gold-medal game against France.

The 33-year-old forward won two NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

Durant left Golden State after the 2018-19 season and sat out all of the 2019-20 campaign with a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto.

He eventually joined the Nets and played alongside fellow All-Stars James Harden and Kyrie Irving this past season, leading Brooklyn to the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Nets lost the best-of-seven series 4-3 despite Durant scoring 48 points in game seven.

While missing parts of the regular season with a string of injuries, Durant averaged 26.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 35 games.

The extension, which he becomes eligible for after Saturday, is expected to vault Durant past $500 million in NBA career earnings.

Also in NBA contract news, Kawhi Leonard is expected to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, though the details are still being finalized, Yahoo Sports reported.

Leonard initially declined his player option, worth $36 million, for next season, but was widely expected to try to negotiate a new deal to remain with the Clippers.

Los Angeles is home for the two-time NBA Finals MVP (2014, 2019) who grew up just east of the city in Riverside.

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