Golden State Warriors General Manager Bob Myers expects swift negotiations to re-sign two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Coach Steve Kerr.
Durant could sign for as long as four years and about $160 million, and Myers is prepared to give him "whatever he wants." Durant has said all along that he wants to stay put, especially after winning championships in each of his first two seasons with Golden State.
"Sometimes you don't negotiate. I'd love to have him for 10 years. Kevin Durant, look what he did for us last year. He did us a great service," Myers said. "He's earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. I just want him to sign a deal. But [I] want him to be happy and want him to know that we want him as long as he wants to be here. He's earned that, to kind of lay out the terms. He can do whatever he wants. That shouldn't be a long negotiation."
Kerr has one year remaining on his original five-year contract, so he would receive a multi-year extension. Kerr wants to coach Golden State for the long haul, perhaps for another decade if he can. He doesn't expect any difficulties in getting a deal worked out.
"We'll get that done pretty quick," he said. "I don't think it'll be much to it."
Myers wants to keep as much of the core of the two-time defending champions intact while realizing the Warriors will be a younger team without the same veteran presence as the group that just swept LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Working to extend the contracts of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson could be discussed as well.
"Sure, guys have proven they can win, so you want to keep that group together," Myers said. "I have no idea how that'll play out. It's a lot of different conversations that have to take place, and if that's something that we want to look into, I'm sure we could have those. Klay's got another year. Draymond's got two more. Kevin's really the free agent we have to focus on."
Got their rings
He fiddled with the ring on his right hand, still not fully believing what it symbolized. For Skip Lane and 24 other members of the 1987 Washington Redskins replacement team, it was their day to celebrate being part of a Super Bowl championship. They waited a long time to get a ring -- and when they finally did, they still needed to pinch themselves.
"It was surreal," said Lane, one of 25 replacement players in attendance Tuesday. "Even walking in here, I never really thought I was going to get the ring. I still don't believe it's on my hand. It's a fantasy almost."
The Redskins announced three months ago that they would be honoring the replacement players with a Super Bowl ring. There was momentum for doing so after an ESPN documentary called Year of the Scab debuted in April 2017 at the Tribeca Film Festival. In the film, several players on the other side of the picket line -- defensive linemen Dexter Manley and Darryl Grant among them -- endorsed the idea.
"Sometimes it's not when it comes, it's the fact that it comes," said Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who posed for pictures with some of the replacement players and their families. "When it came up about them receiving rings, I thought it was a good opportunity to show them we appreciated them."
Sports on 06/15/2018