NEW YORK — He’s here to stay. And so is Brooklyn.
Kevin Durant announced an agreement to sign a four-year, $198 million max contract extension with the Nets on Friday. He will decline the 2022-23 player option for his current contract and instead add four additional years onto his deal.
That means barring a trade request, Durant, who is 32 going on 33 years old, will likely retire a Net. If James Harden and Kyrie Irving follow suit, the Nets have a chance to become a dynasty and compete for championships for each of the next five seasons.
It’s a dream come true for a franchise that tried and failed to execute this in the past.
The Nets surrendered young players and draft assets in the trade for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. That deal earned Brooklyn just one playoff appearance before the wheels fell off. Those players were well past their primes. They eventually left Brooklyn to compete elsewhere, and the Nets were left without the assets needed to rebuild.
There was some concern the Nets could be facing a similar ghost from nightmares past. After acquiring Durant and Irving, they traded some of their most promising young players and most of their draft assets to pry Harden from the Rockets to create a Big 3.
Had Durant decided not to re-up in Brooklyn, the Nets would have faced a worst-case scenario: No draft capital, no superstars, no chance at competing for it all any time soon.
Durant's decision to commit to Brooklyn now puts those concerns to rest.
It’s Durant, after all, who has led Team USA to the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics. And it’s Durant who nearly eliminated the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs — with Irving out and Harden playing on virtually one leg. He averaged 35.4 points per game in the second round and played all 48 minutes in Game 5 and all 53 minutes in Game 7.
Durant is a two-time NBA Finals MVP, and he was a smaller shoe size shy of eliminating the Bucks with a turnaround fading toe-on-the-line 2 that sent Game 7 into overtime. Instead of sending the Bucks home on that shot, the Bucks won in overtime against a depleted and tired roster.
The Nets are quite literally banking on rewriting history. Two of their three stars went down in one series, including Harden, an ironman who prides himself on playing big minutes.
Harden and Irving can each sign extensions soon, too, which means the Nets can sign three of the most elite scorers in NBA history to long-term contracts.
While the winners of NBA free agency are usually dictated by players who sign with a new team, Durant’s commitment to Brooklyn makes the Nets the biggest winners.
The Nets have their king, and he’s set to lead the charge.
