Nets announce extension for Kevin Durant
The Brooklyn Nets officially announced the signing of All-NBA forward Kevin Durant to a multi-year extension on Sunday.
The team declined to give details, but Durant’s media company, Boardroom, announced that it was a four-year, $198 million extension on Friday, citing Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman.
Durant, who turns 33 next month, is an 11-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP, when he won titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He left the Warriors following the 2018-19 season, which ended in a loss to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals. Durant ruptured his Achilles during the series, causing him to sit out all of 2019-20.
“Kevin is a transcendent talent who continues to drive and push this franchise and the game of basketball globally,” said Nets general manager Sean Marks. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with him for years to come.”
Most recently, Durant led Team USA to a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. He became the U.S. men’s team’s all-time leading scorer as he picked up his third gold medal in Japan.
Brooklyn Poised For Another Run
Durant played his first season with the Nets in 2020-21 alongside Kyrie Irving and James Harden, the latter of whom was acquired via trade midseason.
While missing sizeable parts of the regular season with multiple injuries, and also testing positive for COVID-19, Durant played 35 games and averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
In the 2021 playoffs, Durant recorded 34.3 points per game and dropped 48 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks. Though the Nets lost, it marked the highest-scoring individual performance in a Game 7 in NBA history.
According to Boardroom, Durant declined a player option for the 2022-23 season, while adding four more years through the 2025-26 season.
The extension will take Durant past $500 million in career on-court earnings, the website said.
The Nets also signed free agent forward DeAndre’ Bembry. Terms were not released.
Bembry, 27, averaged 5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 51 games (12 starts) with Toronto in 2020-21. The 2016 first-round pick (21st overall) out of Saint Joseph’s has career averages of 6.1 points and 3.3 boards in 240 games (35 starts) with the Atlanta Hawks (2016-20) and Raptors.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)