By TIM REYNOLDS
Kevin Durant needs to be in Houston for multiple 12 months. And he left greater than $30 million on the bargaining desk to make that potential.
Durant has signed a contract extension that would hold the four-time scoring champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist with the Rockets by way of the 2027-28 season, the staff introduced Sunday.
It’s a two-year extension, the second 12 months at Durant’s choice, in accordance with an individual who spoke to The Related Press on situation of anonymity as a result of the Rockets didn’t disclose these particulars.
ESPN, which first reported the settlement, cited Durant’s enterprise associate Wealthy Kleiman and stated the deal might be price $90 million. If Durant performs each seasons as deliberate, that $90 million would push his on-court earnings to almost $600 million — which might be an NBA document, relying on how lengthy LeBron James continues to play.
Durant — a 15-time All-Star, one in every of solely seven gamers in NBA historical past with that many picks — was eligible for an extension that would have been price $122 million. He opted for much less, a transfer that may present the Rockets loads of flexibility for different offers going ahead.
“Generous guy,” Rockets ahead Amen Thompson advised reporters in Houston on Sunday.
The brand new deal had been anticipated since Durant selected to affix the Rockets and so they swung a commerce for him this previous summer time. Houston was the Western Convention’s No. 2 seed final season after going 52-30, snapping a five-year playoff drought. The Rockets are 93-71 in Ime Udoka’s two seasons as coach, after going 59-177 within the three earlier seasons.
“I think we all knew when we traded for him and when he came here it wasn’t a short-term thing,” Udoka stated. “Good to get to a point where everybody’s happy and hopefully he finishes his career here.”
Durant stated at Rockets media day final month that he anticipated to signal an extension.
“Just seeing the quick progression of this franchise from where it was right after that James Harden-Chris Paul era, seeing when Ime got here and how he turned it around so fast … it just felt organic and natural coming into the gym and being a Houston Rocket for the first time,” Durant stated.
Durant is eighth all-time on the NBA scoring record. He realistically might climb to No. 5 this season; at present at 30,571 factors, he’s 848 behind No. 7 Wilt Chamberlain, 989 behind No. 6 Dirk Nowitzki and 1,721 behind No. 5 Michael Jordan.
Durant averaged 26.6 factors final season, his seventeenth within the NBA — not counting one 12 months missed due to damage. For his profession, the 6-foot-11 ahead is averaging 27.2 factors and 7 rebounds per sport.
Signing with Houston introduced Durant again to the state of Texas, the place he performed his one 12 months of school basketball for the Longhorns and was the school participant of the 12 months earlier than going because the No. 2 decide within the 2007 draft by Seattle.
Houston is his fifth franchise, after the SuperSonics (who then grew to become the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder), Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix. Durant received his two NBA championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and final 12 months he grew to become each the highest-scoring participant in U.S. Olympic basketball historical past and the primary males’s participant to be a part of 4 gold-medal basketball groups.
Having an choice to play into 2028 additionally raises the chance that Durant might think about enjoying for the U.S. on the Los Angeles Olympics.
Initially Revealed: October 19, 2025 at 1:09 PM PDT
