Kevin Durant's Contract Decision Makes The Golden State Warriors Even More Unstoppable

Kevin Durant is going to restructure his deal with the Golden State Warriors to take less money, according to reports.

That's very bad news for anyone who thought the Warriors might pose less of a threat in the new NBA season.

According to ESPN, Durant will voluntarily become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 before immediately re-signing with the Warriors. Durant was due a salary of $27,734,405 in 2017-18 according to Spotrac but he will take around $4 million less than than the maximum available to him.

The reason? Durant may end up a little less rich but the Warriors should then have the capacity to re-sign Andre Iguodala, who hits the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 28-year-old former Oklahoma City Thunder forward wants to win, repeatedly, in the Bay Area and it seems he is willing to delay a long-term deal in search of more championships.

Alongside negotiating Iguodala's deal, the Warriors will also have to pay out this summer on a new contract for Stephen Curry expected to total more than $200 million across five years. After four years of making less than perhaps his performances deserve, the point guard will sign one of the NBA's new Designated Player Veteran Contracts.

In theory, the Warriors' core could have started to break up this summer. But Durant's reported decision means the juggernaut will likely go on, at least until the subject of Klay Thompson's contract extension comes up again next summer.

Somewhere in northeast Ohio, LeBron James is quietly banging his head against the wall. If James wants to win another championship with the Cavaliers, or even, as rumored, in the western conference with the Los Angeles Lakers, he will have to accomplish it against the same lineup that ended the Cavaliers' championship hopes in 2017.