Kevin Durant on potential contract extension with Suns: ‘We’ll figure that stuff out’

Phoenix Suns media day sits 31 days before the deadline for the team and Kevin Durant to reach a contract extension.

The urgency to get a deal done won’t impact the near-term future, nor the 2024-25 season.

But naturally, the 14-time All-Star and Suns executives were asked Monday about negotiations considering Durant’s age, prominence in the regular flood of NBA offseason trade rumors and high level of production. Durant turned 36 years old a day earlier but put up 26.8 points per game in 2023-24.

“I have two years left on my contract. I’m focused on being the best that I can every day, in the moment. We’ll figure that stuff out when it’s time,” Durant told reporters Monday.

What Kevin Durant’s contract extension with Suns could look like

Durant still has those two years and $105.9 million left on his deal. His extension would take him through the 2026-27 season, which he’d play at 38 years old.

A one-year, $59.7 million contract extension can’t be signed after Oct. 21, though the Suns could come to an agreement on a multi-year deal next July.

“I think it came up this summer talking about … Kevin Durant loves it here, we love Kevin Durant,” Phoenix owner Mat Ishbia said Monday. “We talk to him and his agent, Rich Kleiman, all the time. We don’t really go through contract extensions publicly. I’ll tell you this: Kevin loves it here, we love Kevin. Nothing’s changing with that.”

Suns CEO and president Josh Bartelstein told AZCentral in August that there had been some semblance of negotiation talks with Durant and Kleiman. Though it was the same lines about love going both ways, it was a sign there is mutual interest in a long-term relationship between Phoenix and Durant.

The star’s moves over the years from Oklahoma City, Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix all came with criticism in some form or another. And they also were followed by shifts in championship expectations across the NBA.

Because of that, every opportunity for the star to sign an extension has become a pretty public inflection point, one that happened this offseason even before the contract signing window opened in July.

As for where he’s at with the Suns, Durant seems plenty happy in Phoenix at the moment. He said he spent time at a team gathering for his birthday on Sunday and took in the Washington Commanders’ win over the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale before reporting for duty as the Suns begin training camp.

“We love having KD here. Like, we want him here,” Suns president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones said. “We’ll figure that out. Like Mat said, we don’t really talk about that publicly, but the thing we do talk about publicly is, like, who wants to be here and who is a great fit for us? We love KD, he loves being here, that goes without saying.”

Follow @kzimmermanaz