Amen Thompson Labels Kevin Durant ‘Generous’ After Taking $30 Million Pay Cut

Kevin Durant is potentially on his last team as he looks to compete for championships with young Houston Rockets teammate Amen Thompson.Kevin Durant is potentially on his last team as he looks to compete for championships with young Houston Rockets teammate Amen Thompson.

Amen Thompson Labels Kevin Durant ‘Generous’ After Taking $30 Million Pay Cut

Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson (Image via Bradeaux/X)

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Amen Thompson and his Houston Rockets climbed to 2nd in the West last season. At the time, little did he know that the team’s young core would interest veteran superstar Kevin Durant.

The Slim Reaper ensured the Phoenix Suns knew that the Rockets were one of the teams he would be interested in moving to in the offseason. The Suns accepted his request and engineered a trade involving an NBA-record 7 teams to make it happen.

The 15-time All-Star will get a chance to use his experience and his otherworldly basketball skills to help the young Rockets take the next step towards becoming elite.

After the trade, Durant often talked about how he wanted to stay in Houston for the long run. It seems the superstar knows he might not get many opportunities to continuously compete for titles, hence wants to make the most of it.

Earlier, ESPN’s lead NBA Insider revealed that the 2-time champion had signed a contract extension with his new team. After practice, reporters asked Amen Thompson about his new teammate’s deal.

At first, he admitted not knowing about the extension or the details of Kevin Durant’s new contract. When Thompson was informed that his veteran teammate took a pay cut, he said:

Generous guy.

Amen Thompson replied

His reaction suggests he was oblivious to what was going on and needed input from reporters to learn about the details. Thompson reiterated that Durant is a ‘great guy’, and that the young players are feeling confident around him.

Kevin Durant’s pay cut helps Rockets with cap flexibility

When Kevin Durant arrived via that blockbuster trade, many felt the Houston Rockets took away some cap flexibility. The superstar’s $54 million cap hit was going to become a stumbling block if they were to try to add players.

Kevin Durant with his Houston Rockets teammates
Kevin Durant with his Houston Rockets teammates (Image via Basket USA/X)

After Fred VanVleet‘s season-ending injury, that cap hit potentially scuppered the franchise’s chances of reuniting their newest leading superstar with his former teammate, Russell Westbrook.

Essentially, the Rockets did not have any cap space to sign the point guard, even though they could get him at the veteran minimum. It seems that might have played a hand in Durant’s contract extension.

After originally revealing that the 6′ 11″ superstar had signed a 2-year, $90 million extension, Shams Charania posted another update revealing that Kevin Durant had the option of signing a 2-year, $120 million extension.

This means he chose to forego $30 million so that the team has the best chance of utilizing cap space to reinforce the team. This extends the Rockets’ championship window.

Kevin Durant to become all-time leader in career earnings

Kevin Durant has a plethora of investments and endorsements to help him recover the $30 million he gave up in his latest contract. Even though he will make nearly $10 million less, he still would make enough from the NBA to be the all-time highest earner.

With his latest contract extension, the DC native would end up receiving $598.2 million in game checks by the time this new contract pans out. That means he will earn more than Paris Olympics teammate LeBron James.

James’ contract is not as long as Durant’s, and there is the potential of him retiring after next season. Therefore, the latter could go down as the player with the most career earnings.

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