NBA Free Agency: Kevin Durant to opt out of his contract

After winning the NBA Finals, Kevin Durant will decline his player option for the 2017-18 year and opt out of his contract, making him a free agent.

Welp, the Warriors just won the NBA Finals and are looking to repeat, but they have an important offseason to navigate before they can focus on their next title quest. A huge piece of the puzzle will become a free agent, after opting out of his contract.

According to ESPN, Kevin Durant will decline his player option, thus making him a free agent for the 2017-18 season. But don’t worry Dub Nation, the Finals’ MVP isn’t going anywhere, as he still plans to re-sign a contract with the Warriors.

If Durant had chosen to exercise the player option, his salary would have been around $28 million for the upcoming season. The most logical option for Durant is to sign another one-and-one, and re-up next year for an even bigger contract. This would free up some money this year in the salary cap to re-sign Andre Iguodala, who’s expected to receive offers reaching an annual salary of $20 million.

KD led the Warriors to their second championship in three years and doesn’t look to be leaving Golden State any time soon. He was the Finals’ MVP in this miraculous run, but the Warriors have their work cut out for them to repeat. Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, David West and Ian Clark are all free agents and the Warriors will be up against the salary cap with the new contracts of Durant and Curry.

Next: NBA Free Agency 2017: 20 best players available

Regardless, this was just a business decision for Kevin Durant. KD won’t be jumping ship this summer; he’s just making the smart business move to make sure he’s earning himself some more cash for the next season. Durant is also looking out for Iguodala, but it remains to be seen if Iggy will come back to the Warriors at a lower salary.