Golden State Warriors All Star Kevin Durant is still expected to receive max contract offers from multiple teams this summer, despite the achilles injury he suffered during Game 5 of the NBA Finals earlier this week.
Immediately following the injury, some suggested Durant would decide to opt into his $31.5M player option with the Warriors for next season, and test free agency the following summer. However, it appears as though Durant will be moving forward as planned.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, picking up the player option is viewed as a "last resort" for KD.
Durant, who will turn 31 in September, will likely miss all of next season, but several analysts maintain teams around the league won't be deterred when pursuing him this summer.
ESPN's Bobby Marks says teams are still prepared to offer KD a four-year max contract, assuming he does turn down the player option with Golden State, as has been reported.
“I said ... If you had cap space, would you go out and sign Kevin Durant knowing that he will likely be out maybe the whole year? And the resounding answer was 'yes.' Each of the teams also said that they wouldn't even put any injury language in there for maybe years three and four to protect. So, yes, there will be a marketplace for Kevin Durant this summer, either with a team for four years, $141 million dollars or even back in Golden State here."