Oklahoma City Thunder centre's comments come as a surprise and probably a sign of things to come....
As the Oklahoma City Thunder try to get a grip of the situation regarding James Harden and his contract extension, Kendrick Perkins has created a big stir with his recent comments about the Thunder’s newest acquisition, Hasheem
Thabeet.
The Thunder front office is busy trying to hammer out a contract extension with James Harden, part of the core that helped them reach the 2012 NBA Finals, and also the reigning 6th man of the year. James is set to become
a restricted free agent next summer and the Thunder know that teams will be lining up on his door to sign him. Instead of paying him much more to retain him then, the Thunder are looking to hammer a contract extension with him.
However, Harden is reportedly refusing to accept anything than the max offer, and the Thunder do not want to enter the luxury tax threshold. While that is going on, Perkins had some comments about his starting position for next
season.
The Oklahoman did a piece on Thabeet earlier this week, in which they covered how the Thunder’s newest acquisition was adjusting to the new team and his role in the team. As part of the story, the Thunder talked to starting center
Kendrick Perkins about the addition and Perkins replied:
“We're all teammates, but at the end of the day, the center position over here is mine and that's the way we're going to keep it. Any other way, backup minutes or whatever they want to go about, that's their problem. Once I hit
the court, I'm going to make it known and it's going to be known that that's mine. It's no beef, but at the end of the day, that's what it is.”
The latest comment by Perkins comes as a bit of surprise for the Thunder fans, and maybe even the coaching staff and the front office. The statement makes matters even more interesting because Thunder coach Scott Brooks might want
to try out a small starting five next season with Serge Ibaka at the five and Perkins on the bench. The whole league is moving towards a smaller line-up and a quicker game, and Brooks might have to follow suit in order to compete with some of the teams. And
according to what Perkins has said, he will not be a happy man if that happens.
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