Durant officially inks extension with Thunder

Basketball Betting Lines

07/08/2010 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Kevin Durant has officially signed a multi-year contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The deal is reportedly for five years.

"Today is an exciting and important day in the growth of the Thunder organization," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "The mutual and substantial commitment by both Kevin and our ownership group comes by way of aligned values and vision. Kevin's consistent work ethic, humility, team-first mentality and strong community investment are just some of the reasons that today's commitments stretch beyond our franchise and throughout our community and the entire state of Oklahoma."

Durant's agent, Aaron Goodwin, earlier told the Oklahoman the deal is worth close to $85 million and runs through the 2015-16 season without a player option that would have allowed for free agency after the fourth year.

"I am excited to remain a part of the Thunder organization and the Oklahoma City community," said Durant. "This is a big day for my family and myself. I would like to thank God for putting me in this position, the Thunder for believing in me since I was drafted and my teammates for supporting and encouraging me everyday."

Durant is the reigning NBA scoring leader after averaging 30.1 points while appearing in all 82 regular-season games in 2009-10. He set a franchise record by scoring 30-plus points on 47 occasions last season and helped lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Also, his 756 made free throws were a franchise-best and the most recorded in a single season since Michael Jordan connected on 833 during the 1986-87 campaign.

Taken second overall by the defunct Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 draft, Durant has averaged 25.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists for his career.

"Kevin Durant personifies what we are building with the Oklahoma City Thunder," said Thunder chairman Clay Bennett. "His dedication to his teammates, to continually working at his game, and to this community is at the core of what we want this organization to represent. We are excited to have the opportunity to continue to watch Kevin evolve as a player and just as thrilled to have someone of his personal character on our team."

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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