Kevin Durant agrees to 2-year extension with Rockets through 20th NBA season

By TIM REYNOLDS Kevin Durant wants to be in Houston for more than one year And he left more than million on the bargaining table to make that attainable Durant has signed a contract extension that could keep the four-time scoring champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist with the Rockets through the - season the gang declared Sunday It is a two-year extension the second year at Durant s option according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Rockets did not disclose those details ESPN which first disclosed the agreement cited Durant s business partner Rich Kleiman and stated the deal could be worth million If Durant plays both seasons as planned that million would push his on-court earnings to nearly million which could be an NBA record depending on how long LeBron James continues to play Durant a -time All-Star one of only seven players in NBA history with that a large number of selections was eligible for an extension that could have been worth million He opted for less a move that will provide the Rockets plenty of flexibility for other deals going forward Generous guy Rockets forward Amen Thompson notified reporters in Houston on Sunday The new deal had been expected since Durant chose to join the Rockets and they swung a exchange for him this past summer Houston was the Western Conference s No seed last season after going - snapping a five-year playoff drought The Rockets are - in Ime Udoka s two seasons as coach after going - in the three previous seasons I think we all knew when we traded for him and when he came here it wasn t a short-term thing Udoka noted Good to get to a point where everybody s happy and hopefully he finishes his career here Durant reported at Rockets media day last month that he expected to sign 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 declared Durant is eighth all-time on the NBA scoring list He realistically could climb to No this season now at points he is behind No Wilt Chamberlain behind No Dirk Nowitzki and behind No Michael Jordan Durant averaged points last season his th in the NBA not counting one year missed because of injury For his career the -foot- forward is averaging points and seven rebounds per challenge Related Articles Why Warriors had to cut Seth Curry Curry Kuminga Horford and injuries What we learned about Warriors during preseason Warriors instant analysis Al Horford Draymond Green show passing chemistry in preseason finale Warriors position breakdown Who should start with Steph Curry in backcourt Butler Moody dealing with injuries ahead of Warriors preseason finale Signing with Houston brought Durant back to the state of Texas where he played his one year of college basketball for the Longhorns and was the college athlete of the year before going as the No pick in the draft by Seattle Houston is his fifth franchise after the SuperSonics who then became the Oklahoma City Thunder Golden State Brooklyn and Phoenix Durant won his two NBA championships with the Warriors in and and last year he became both the highest-scoring performer in U S Olympic basketball history and the first men s member to be part of four gold-medal basketball teams Having an option to play into also raises the possibility that Durant may consider playing for the U S at the Los Angeles Olympics