Kevin Durant plans to agree to a four-year, $198-million contract extension with the Brooklyn Nets, according to ESPN, which talked to Rich Kleiman, Durant's longtime business manager and also the co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures and Boardroom.

This is likely the biggest deal for 32-year-old Durant in the NBA. He will make about $42 million in the 2021-22 season and in doing so abandons the $42.8-million player option for the 2022-23 season, which will see the new contract begin.

KD only played 35 games in the regular season for the Nets in the 2020-21 campaign due to COVID-19 infection and a hamstring injury, averaging 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 33.1 minutes. However, Durant's time on the court grew to 40.4 minutes per game in the playoffs and he dropped 34.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists, partly because both Kyrie Irving and James Harden suffered series injuries.

The Nets could have never extended the Eastern Conference semifinals to seven games without the crazy performance of Durant who had 49 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in G5 and 48 points, nine rebounds and six assists in G7.

Though the Nets did not win the NBA Championship in the first season their "Big 3" – Durant, Harden and Irving – joined hands, they have every reason to believe that things will be different when they are all healthy.

The team kept Blake Griffin with a one-year veteran deal and added Patty Mills to the roster on a two-year, $12-million contract. The team's payroll and luxury tax together will reach $296 million next season based on the contracts they hold at the moment, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. But both Irving and Harden are eligible to sign extensions like Durant in this offseason.

Other key moves in the market:

The Los Angeles Lakers extended the contract of their head coach Frank Vogel, announced the team on Friday. Vogel led the Lakers to the postseason in both of the past seasons and won the NBA Championship in 2020. He will lead one of the oldest squads in the new season to chase the throne again.

Julius Randle and the New York Knicks reached a four-year, $117-million contract extension, according to ESPN. The No. 7 selection of the 2014 NBA Draft averaged 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and six assists per game in the 2020-21 regular season for the team. Though he played a terrible series in the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks apparently are willing to trust him as part of their future.

Kawhi Leonard is finalizing terms of contract he will resign with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to The Associated Press. The two-time NBA champion opted out of his $36-million player option last week. He has two options now. He can sign either a four-year, $176-million new deal or a 1+1 contract before agreeing to a five-year, $235-million super max contract in 2022 summer, according to Marks.

Though Leonard is unlikely to appear on the court in the 2021-22 season because of knee injury, the Clippers do not want to lose him.