AFTER losing Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder are moving quickly to keep Russell Westbrook in town for longer than just this season. Westbrook will sign a three-year, US$85 million contract extension with the Thunder that’ll tack on extra salary this year and add two additional years on his deal, including a player option for 2018-19, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

    Wojnarowski reports the Thunder will likely hold a news conference later to announce the deal.

    Westbrook was previously slated to become a free agent in 2017. Once this new deal is complete, he will commit to the Thunder for at least this year and next.

    This will come as a huge relief to Thunder fans questioning the organization’s future after Durant spurned them to sign with the Warriors. General manager Sam Presti could move forward knowing that Westbrook is at least sticking around for two more years. Without an extension, Presti would likely be forced to trade Westbrook or risk losing him for nothing the same way he lost Durant. With one, the organization has some breathing room.

    Yet this arrangement also benefits Westbrook in certain ways. While he’d be foregoing his freedom to sign elsewhere, he can stand to make more money over the short and long haul. The Thunder left open their cap space this summer, which allows them to raise his 2016-17 salary from US$17.8 million to the maximum US$26.5 million.

    In exchange for pledging one additional year to the Thunder, Westbrook can re-enter the free-agent market in 2018, after his 10th season. Under the current rules, that means Westbrook would be eligible to start his next contract at 35 percent of the salary cap. If he became a free agent next summer, he would only be eligible to sign for 30 percent.(SD-Agencies)