Los Angeles: Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has clinched a new five-year deal worth $201 million, the richest contract in NBA history, ESPN reported on Friday.
Curry, who recently helped the Warriors to their second NBA Finals crown in three years, is the first player to break the $200-million barrier, ESPN said, citing the player’s agent Jeff Austin.
News of the agreement wipes away any uncertainty concerning the future of Curry, who had been on a four-year contract worth a relatively modest $44 million until his new deal.
Despite being one of the league’s highest profile stars, Curry had languished way down the pecking order of the NBA’s best-paid players.
According to the basketball-reference.com website, Curry had been the 82nd best-paid player in the league, earning just over $12.1 million last season. That figure is dwarfed by the league’s highest earner, LeBron James, who stands to earn $33.3 million next season and $35.6 million in 2018-2019.
Curry’s existing contract had been agreed when there were still doubts about his long-term fitness, with the player thought to have issues concerning the durability of his ankles.
However, those doubts have been obliterated during a series of dazzling seasons for the Warriors that have helped him become a four-time All-Star.
He was named NBA Most Valuable Player during the Warriors’ championship winning run in 2014-2015 and the following season became the first player in history to win the award in a unanimous vote.
He averaged 25.3 points per game this regular season and has led the league in three-point field goals for five straight seasons.
That remarkable run of scoring included 402 three-pointers in 2015-2016 — a single-season record. No other player had passed 300 threes in a season before Curry.
George going to Oklahoma
Indiana Pacers star Paul George, meanwhile, is set to join the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blockbuster deal that will see Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis head in the opposite direction, reports said.
ESPN reported that four-time All-Star forward George heads to the Thunder despite pledging to remain with the Pacers for the 2017-2018 season.
George, 27, had been widely linked to a 2018 move to the Los Angeles Lakers when he becomes a free agent next year.
Instead, the Pacers star is now poised to join Oklahoma City, where he will forge a partnership with NBA 2016-17 Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook.
No further details of the proposed deal were immediately available, but the move would enable Indiana to obtain talent for losing George, something they wouldn’t get if he played out his contract next season.
In other trade moves reported on Friday, Los Angeles Clippers stalwart Blake Griffin is set to sign a new five-year deal that will see him remain in California.
The Los Angeles Times and ESPN both reported that Griffin would sign a deal worth $173 million after scrapping scheduled meetings with Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets.
It follows a tumultuous week for the Clippers, who on Wednesday saw Chris Paul depart for the Houston Rockets ahead of free agency starting on Saturday.
Paul joined the Rockets following a reported rift with coach Doc Rivers. Griffin, the top overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, last week opted out of his contract and became an unrestricted free agent.
