NBA superstar Kevin Durant has confirmed that he will sign a four-year max contract with the Brooklyn Nets, ending his stint with the Golden State Warriors.
It brings to an end a year of speculation, in which it had been highly assumed that he would leave the California franchise.
Durant signed with the Warriors in the summer of 2016, going on to win titles in his first two seasons with the team. They would fail to win a third consecutive Larry O'Brien Trophy last season, falling to the Toronto Raptors in six games.
Their failings were largely down to the health of Durant. He missed the opening four games of the series due to a mysterious calf injury, which had also ruled him out of the conference finals.
He would return for game five, only to suffer a major achilles injury in the second quarter. That injury is expected to rule him out for all of next season.
Despite this, Brooklyn showed little hesitation in offering him a four-year $141million contract. Durant confirmed the news on The Boardroom, a media site part owned by the player.
— Boardroom (@boardroom) June 30, 2019
This is a major coup for the franchise, who had been the laughing stock of the league only a couple of years ago. It is even more so when you consider that their cross city rivals, the New York Knicks, had been the team most strongly linked with Durant over the past few months.
Durant was possibly the best player in basketball prior to his injury, and is one of the deadliest scorers of all time. While there is no telling how his injury will affect him upon his eventual return, there is a decent chance he will get back to a very high level of play.
He will not be alone in Brooklyn either. The Nets have also agreed to a four-year max deal with point guard Kyrie Irving.
It had been rumoured that the pair have had a desire to link up for some time now, having become close friends during their time together with Team USA. That has now come to fruition.
We will likely have to wait until the 2020/21 season to see them on the court together, but it should be a lot of fun once we do.
