I read somewhere last offseason saying that Durant knew how hard it was to acquire big salaries such as his and that when he reached free agency, he might pick his team and play for the minimum so that team could add talent. I only saw mention of it that one time and I can't recall where I read it .... But now we have rumors that he will in fact take a lower than max deal with the Rockets - the report is 2 years 100m. It's not a minimum contract by any standards but it is a significant discount from the 2/122 he could get. That 22m over 2 years could mean the difference between adding a piece or keeping a younger player and or staying out of that 2nd apron territory.
2 years/100M is still more than I think he's likely to be worth (especially in that final year) but it's not disastrous for the franchise I guess. If his decline is gentle enough, there will be worse players getting paid about the same or more when this offseason wraps up.
FVV got paid over his likely open market value. Jabari also got paid more than his current production has warranted, although it was certainly signed with potential growth in mind. Jabari could have held out on signing and maybe made more next offseason, but he took the guaranteed money. If KD does in fact sign that deal, it will be the first guy that clearly signed a below market team friendly deal.
Assuming 4 minimum contracts worth at $2.5M each (don't know exact number for next season), the Rockets would have $22M under the 2nd apron next season with Durant at that number with an 8% raise for 2nd season of extension. Tari's first seaon would need to be less than $22M.
I wasn't on board with dealing for KD .... I thought the price would be much higher than it ended up being - thought they'd demand one of Sengun / Jabari / Amen and that was out of the question. Now that the deal has been made and at a significantly lower cost than I ever anticipated, I'm good with the deal. Being honest about Durant - he should be in the conversation for GOAT shooter. The only dude in the history of the league that has an argument otherwise is Curry. Since missing the entire season in 2019/20 he has had one season below 40% from 3 - in 2021/22 he shot .383. The last two seasons he's shot .413 & .430 from range. He's shot at least .503 from the field every year since 2011/12 (.496) and for all intents and purposes, that was a different league altogether. Four of the past five seasons he's shot 50+/40+ with two 50/40/90 seasons to his credit .... Other than Curry, I don't think anyone has an argument against Durant as the best shooter. Curry has a better 3p% while Durant is far and away better from 2 and "from the floor". Curry has only 1 season over 50% from the floor in his career and that's his lone 50/40/90 season. Durant has only gotten better as a shooter as he's aged ..... the only real drop is the number of FT attempts he gets. He's still one of the best statistical players in the game in ISO too ... mainly because he can shoot over most defenders. IF KD is healthy, this team is gonna be very hard to beat in a playoff series. Yes, Duncan was criminally under rated ..... but you just can't diminish KD, especially as a shooter and that's just what he'll be here.
I'm more than 20 years older .... but have always been an athlete - 6'3" 205 with ~12% body fat in my old age, still in the 1000lb club. I do live in the gym 6 days a week and maintain a very strict diet. The science of fitness has come a very long way in recent years .... It's not hard for professional athletes to stay in fantastic shape well beyond what was possible even a decade ago.
