Kevin Durant is reportedly willing to take less money to keep the Warriors’ dynasty intact

If Kevin Durant has his way, the Golden State Warriors could be together for a long, long time. Durant is reportedly willing to take less than a maximum contract in order for the Warriors to keep their core together, according to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne and Chris Haynes.

With Stephen Curry on the verge of signing a five-year “supermax” deal worth $205 million — a contract that would pay $35.4 million next year — Golden State flexibility will be scarce come free agency. If Durant wanted his full max contract this summer, the Warriors would need to use cap space to give it to him. That’d force them to renounce some of their key reserve players, including Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, to create room for his deal.

Instead, Durant could sign a non-bird contract, capping his max salary at 120 percent of the previous year’s. He made $26.5 million last season and his new max would come in at $31.8 million. Durant could then sign either a four-year, non-bird contract or a more likely two-year deal with a player option on Year 2. That way, the Warriors wouldn’t need to use cap space and could retain the right to keep Iguodala and Livingston.

The Warriors have $39 million in guaranteed salaries committed for next season. That’s because when the time came, everyone took less for themselves to put the team first.

In 2014, a max contract for Klay Thompson would have come in at 25 percent of the $70 million salary cap with 7.5 percent annual raises, or around four years at $78 million. Thompson left some money on the table, agreeing to a fixed-rate max deal of four years $68.9 million instead.

As did Draymond Green, who signed a five-year, $82 million extension beginning in the 2015-16 season. His max contract would have come in at more than $100 million.

And then there’s Curry, who won back-to-back MVP awards while playing on a four-year, $44 million contract. He’s been one of, if not the most underpaid player in recent history.

Now, it’s Durant’s turn to sacrifice a few dollars now to keep a potential dynasty together in Golden State. And it appears he’s ready to take that step.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were in a similar position shortly after their lone NBA Finals trip in 2012. James Harden was entering restricted free agency, and he was the combustible sixth man for a young Thunder team that believed it had established its Big 3 with Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka.

But Harden wanted his max contract and found it in Houston. Oklahoma City has only made it to the Western Conference Finals just once ever since. Had everyone agreed to take less money to keep the core four, the Thunder could very well still be intact today. Instead, only Westbrook remains in OKC while everyone else has moved on to another town.

Putting a max contract off an additional season is a risky move, especially in a league as injury-riddled as the NBA has been in recent years. The decision is even more dangerous for Durant, who missed a bulk of games this season after a scary Grade 2 MCL sprain late in the regular season.

One unfortunate tweak could kill any potential long-term deal Durant hopes to sign in the near future, but save for a calf strain — albeit on the same leg as his MCL injury — the former MVP has looked better than ever in the postseason.

The Warriors are in a position to establish the NBA’s next dynasty, easily competing for championships for each of the next five years. To ensure that happens, it appears Durant is willing to take a small, short-term loss for a huge win down the road.

As risky as it might seem, moves like these cement legacies. And if this Warriors group sticks together, they could become a powerhouse juggernaut unlike the NBA has seen in a long, long time.