NBA: Nets to sign Kevin Durant to four-year extension, Lakers add  Carmelo Anthony

Los Angeles: Two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant is poised to sign a four-year, $198 million contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets, his manager said on Friday. Rich Kleiman said the Nets’ star would decline a player option for the 2022-23 season, while adding four more years to his contract, which would take him through the 2025-26 season. The 11-time NBA All-Star is at the Tokyo Olympics, leading the US national team into the gold-medal game against France. The 33-year-old forward won two NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. Durant left Golden State after the 2018-19 season. He missed his first season with the Nets, sitting out all of the 2019-20 campaign with a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto. He eventually joined the Nets and played alongside fellow All-Stars James Harden and Kyrie Irving this past season, leading Brooklyn to the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets lost the best-of-seven series 4-3 despite Durant scoring 48 points in game seven. While missing parts of the regular season with a string of injuries, Durant averaged 26.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 35 games. The extension, which he becomes eligible to officially sign after Saturday, is expected to vault Durant past $500 million in NBA career earnings. Both Harden and Irving will be eligible to sign contract extensions with the Nets this off-season. Also, Kawhi Leonard is expected to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, though the details are still being finalised, Yahoo Sports reported. Leonard initially declined his player option, worth $36 million, for next season, but was widely expected to try to negotiate a new deal to remain with the Clippers. Los Angeles is home for the two-time NBA Finals MVP (2014, 2019) who grew up just east of the city in Riverside. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers announced they have added veteran Carmelo Anthony and Kent Bazemore to their roster. The 37-year-old Anthony will be on a one-year deal after averaging 13.4 points in 69 games with Portland last season. This will be Antony’s sixth NBA team and fifth in the last six seasons. In his 19-year career, Anthony has averaged 23.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists through 1,191 games. The 32-year-old Bazemore played in 67 games for the Golden State Warriors last season. This is his second stint with the Lakers, having spent the 2013-14 season with them. In Atlanta, the Hawks rewarded rising star Trae Young with a five-year contract extension. The reworked deal is reportedly worth a minimum of $172 million but would increase to $207 million should Young make the all-star team. “Official. 5 more ATL!!,” Young wrote in a Twitter post. “ATLANTA IS HOME!! Blessings.” Young averaged 28.8 points and 9.5 assists in Atlanta’s 2021 playoff run as the Hawks were eliminated by eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks have reportedly acquired guard Grayson Allen from the Memphis Grizzlies for guard Sam Merrill and two draft picks, broadcaster ESPN said.