LOS ANGELES – Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant didn’t sign a one-year extension for $59.5 million for the 2026-27 season, sources informed The Arizona Republic, as the deadline to do so was Monday.
He’ll be eligible to sign a two-year extension next summer worth $123.8 million.
Durant made it clear before the deadline he’s focused on the upcoming 2024-25 season.
“I’m not even thinking about it,” Durant said last week. “I’m just going to play out my contract really, and just focus on that. Focus on the team. I haven’t even really had conversations with anybody about a contract. Trying to focus on basketball.”
The Suns play their season opener Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers in the new $2 billion Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
“I’ve been blessed enough to be in this position for 18 years and so I’m not really focused on the money part of it,” Durant said last week about the extension options.
Durant, 36, had been eligible for the one-year extension since July 12.
Phoenix could only offer a one-year max extension at the time due to the “over-38 rule,” which places limits on contracts of at least four years for a player who would be at least 38 years old during that contract. Durant has two years left on his current four-year, $194-million deal.
“I’m just trying to keep getting better and keep growing my game and see how good I can get,” Durant continued. “That’s always been my main focus. When the time comes, the time comes. Right now, I got two seasons left on my deal so I’m going to focus on those two.”
The two-time finals MVP remains one of the game’s best players entering his 18th NBA season. Averaging 27.1 points last season, Durant made All-NBA second team in his first full year in Phoenix.
Durant later won a record fourth Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball in Paris.
The Suns acquired Durant right before the 2023 trade deadline in a blockbuster deal that sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and multiple first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrakin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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