Kevin Durant won’t chase money in 2016 free agency
By Josh Hill
The biggest name in basketball free agency at the moment won’t even be eligible to hit the market for another two years, but that hasn’t stopped the conversation.
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Kevin Durant will be eligible to hit free agency in 2016 and already there are talks about where he might end up. But where he ends up and how he goes about getting there are two different stories as money won’t be a main selling point for the MVP when he puts his services up for sale.
According to Yannis Koutroupis from Basketball Insiders, the Thunder will have to throw more than just a lot of money at Durant if he reaches free agency in 2016, as his endorsement deals have made it so the All-Star can chase a title instead.
"The Thunder’s lone advantage in trying to re-sign him is going to be the fact that they have his Bird rights and can offer him more money than any other team. However, Durant’s recent extension of his Nike endorsement deal is one of the richest in sports history. … He’s doing just fine monetarily, and is going to want to be in the situation that gives him the best opportunity to compete for a championship, especially after seeing how much the aforementioned James benefited from a change of scenery and improved supporting cast."
Durant hasn’t won a title yet and is will be in double digit years of service when his free agency rolls around. There’s no indication that he’s currently unhappy with the Thunder, but as we saw with LeBron James this summer, all it takes is one bad year from the front office to scare off a superstar.
It sounds strange to say, but despite the winning it’s been nothing but bad years for Durant as so far none have ended with a title.
Be sure to check FanSided.com’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.