His agent is pushing him hard to do the 1 + 1 deal.
Makes the Agent and Durant the most money, though Durant has consistently talked down that option. So who the heck knows what will happen. I do think the fact that he's taking 6 meetings doesn't bode great for OKC.
Yeah, I mean I still see him doing the 1 + 1 deal for financial reasons and to have an out if things would go bad, but I still think the plan would be to stay wherever he ends up this summer for the foreseeable future rather than doing this all again next year.
It makes, by far, the most financial sense to stay with OKC for another year and leave next year. If he's doing the 1 + 1 deal for financial reasons, then his most logical option is to stay with OKC for another year. If the money doesn't really matter, then he should be looking to sign a 5-year max deal with whichever team he decides to sign with this summer. Taking a two-year opt out deal with another team is a middle ground option that doesn't really much sense either way, financially or basketball-wise. He loses out on money and what's the point of leaving for another team for just a single year when you know that most of those teams would have serious personnel changes to accommodate KD's contract?
I think you're bifurcating this unnecessarily. We all know that the money isn't the most important thing for KD. Hell, he just signed a ten year, $300M deal with Nike a couple of years ago, so he's not worried about money. Rather, the basketball situation, environment, and future are the things that Durant cares about.
That being said, it makes all the sense in the world for him to do the 1 + 1 even if he does switch teams, because A) he can sign a long-term deal for more money in 2017 due to the rising cap and his status as a 10-year vet, and B) that gives him an out if things wouldn't work out on a new team this coming season.
So, in fact, the two-year deal with the player opt-out makes all the sense in the world for KD given his situation/priorities where money isn't his primary concern, but he still has a way of protecting himself if things would go sour, while also making himself more money. For example, if he would come here and there were two or three major injuries to our main rotation guys, this would give him a chance to leave if need be.
If teams are willing to offer the 1 + 1 to him, which they will be since you do whatever you can to get him to your team, then it doesn't make sense for him to sign long-term to give himself less options should things go sour. Beyond the money, that's one of the reasons that Lebron never signs for long contracts now, because it keeps pressure on the organization to spend money and keep high-level talent around him. By being able to opt-out every year, he gives himself the most flexibility to both keep a winning team around him and take advantage of the rising salary cap.
Unless he's playing it safe in case he would injure himself this year, then I see no reason why he should sign somewhere long-term this offseason.
Topic: The main reason Durant won't stay with OKC this summer (Read 9306 times)