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Kevin Durant enters his 17th NBA season focused on the task at hand despite the looming decision he must make regarding a contract extension.
The 14-time All-Star can either agree to a one-year, $59.5-million extension with the Phoenix Suns for the 2026-27 campaign or wait until next summer, when he’ll be eligible to sign a two-year extension worth a whopping $123.8 million. He has until Monday to sign the one-year extension.
“I’ve been blessed enough to be in this position for 18 years and so I’m not really focused on the money part of it,” Durant told the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin.
“I’m just trying to keep getting better and keep growing my game and see how good I can get. That’s always been my main focus. When the time comes, the time comes. Right now, I got two seasons left on my deal so I’m going to focus on those two.”
The 36-year-old was mentioned in trade rumors in the summer following reports that he had issues with his role in Phoenix’s offense.
Those reports prompted Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein to publicly confirm that Durant is happy in Phoenix.
“The most important thing is Kevin loves being here and we love having Kevin here,” Bartelstein told Rankin during the summer.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia echoed those sentiments on Media Day.
“Everyone talks about Kevin, Kevin loves it here,” Ishbia told Rankin. “We love Kevin Durant. We talk to him and his agent, Rich Kleiman, all the time. We don’t really go through contract extensions publicly, but I’ll tell you this. Kevin loves it. We love Kevin. We plan on Kevin being here. Nothing is changing with that.”
Suns general manager James Jones sounded similarly unbothered by Durant’s extension options, saying: “We’ll figure that out. Like Mat said, we don’t really talk about that publicly, but the thing we do talk about publicly is who really wants to be here and who is a great fit for us.”
The Suns enter the 2024-25 season with the league’s highest payroll and are the first $400-million-plus roster in NBA history. That amount includes the penalties paid for exceeding the second tax apron.
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