Stephen Curry has been wildly underpaid for years, but he’s going to receive a massive raise next summer.
Curry, the League’s back-to-back MVP, could reportedly ink a deal that surpasses the $200-million mark thanks to the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement with its players.
Steph Curry on track for a five-year deal worth an estimated $207 million, reports @ESPNSteinLine & @WindhorstESPN https://t.co/PENlAYMsdK
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 16, 2016
The 28-year-old superstar has repeatedly insisted that the free agency process doesn’t interest him.
Per ESPN:
Currently playing out the last year on a four-year, $44 million extension that he signed in October 2013 at a time that his long-term durability was still being questioned, Curry will be eligible in July for a new deal that sources say would be worth an estimated $207 million over five years, making it the richest contract in league history and paying out an estimated $47 million in the final season (2021-22).
This new rule enables a narrow selection of superstars who are willing to re-sign with their current team to receive up to 35 percent of the salary cap if certain benchmarks are met. As a two-time MVP who has played for the Warriors his entire career, Curry would meet all the qualifications for the maximum allowable salary. A player with Curry’s experience level, under the previous CBA, would have been able to sign for only 30 percent of the cap.
Curry ironically might have new teammate Kevin Durant to thank for his forthcoming windfall. The league’s introduction of two designated veteran player exceptions per team in this new CBA, which have been modeled after the designated rookie player exceptions permissible in the current labor deal for one designated player per team still on his rookie-scale contract, appears to be a reaction to Durant’s departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency last summer.
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