The provision in the 2017 CBA that allows teams to create Designated Player contracts for their own veteran players, officially known as the "Designated Veteran Player Extension" (DVPE), came to be called the "Kevin Durant Rule" because it was seen as a reaction to a wave of veteran superstars leaving their teams in free agency, capped off by Durant's departure from the Thunder to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 offseason. The contract is also commonly called "The Supermax". The 2011 CBA allowed all of the teams that were trying to lure Durant to offer him the same initial salary of $26.5 million.
For a veteran player to qualify for such an extension, he must be entering his eighth or ninth season in the NBA, and have either:
- made the All-NBA team (at any level) in either the season immediately before signing the extension, or two of the three previous seasons;
- been named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in either the season immediately before signing the extension, or two of the three previous seasons; or
- been named NBA MVP at least once in the previous three seasons.
Additionally, the team offering the extension must have originally drafted the player, or obtained him in a trade while he was on his rookie contract.
Players who qualify can be offered contracts with a starting salary between 30 and 35% of the salary cap. The extension cannot last more than five years after the expiration of the player's current contract (or five years for a player who is a free agent when signed), but can be negotiated and signed one year before the current contract expires. The extension can be offered to a team's own free agent as well as a player with time left on his contract. Additionally, once a player signs a DVPE, he cannot be traded for one year.
how do I have disdain for LeBron?
is that the new term of the week were running with?
aren't they hard capped?