Kevin Durant agrees to 2-year
extension with Rockets through 2027-28 season
[October 20, 2025]
By TIM REYNOLDS
Kevin Durant wants to be in Houston for more than one year. And he
left more than $30 million on the bargaining table to make that
possible.
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 2027-28 season, the team announced 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 reported the agreement, cited Durant's business
partner Rich Kleiman and said the deal could be worth $90 million.
If Durant plays both seasons as planned, that $90 million would push
his on-court earnings to nearly $600 million — which could be an NBA
record, depending on how long LeBron James continues to play.
Durant — a 15-time All-Star, one of only seven players in NBA
history with that many selections — was eligible for an extension
that could have been worth $122 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 told reporters in
Houston on Sunday.
The new deal had been expected since Durant chose to join the
Rockets and they swung a trade for him this past summer. Houston was
the Western Conference's No. 2 seed last season after going 52-30,
snapping a five-year playoff drought. The Rockets are 93-71 in Ime
Udoka's two seasons as coach, after going 59-177 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 said. “Good to get to a point
where everybody’s happy and hopefully he finishes his career here.”
Durant said at Rockets' media day last month that he expected to
sign an extension.
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Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) greets fans during the
second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the New
Orleans Pelicans, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP
Photo/Mike Stewart)
“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 said.
Durant is eighth all-time on the NBA scoring list. He realistically
could climb to No. 5 this season; currently at 30,571 points, he is
848 behind No. 7 Wilt Chamberlain, 989 behind No. 6 Dirk Nowitzki
and 1,721 behind No. 5 Michael Jordan.
Durant averaged 26.6 points last season, his 17th in the NBA — not
counting one year missed because of injury. For his career, the
6-foot-11 forward is averaging 27.2 points and seven rebounds per
game.
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 player of the year before going as the No. 2
pick in the 2007 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
2017 and 2018, and last year he became both the highest-scoring
player in U.S. Olympic basketball history and the first men’s player
to be part of four gold-medal basketball teams.
Having an option to play into 2028 also raises the possibility that
Durant may consider playing for the U.S. at the Los Angeles
Olympics.
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