Sam Presti talks James Harden; Committed to keeping Thunder genuine title contenders – NBA News
James Harden has recently been on a drive to convince the Oklahoma City Thunder front office that he wants to be back with the team. Or at least that is what it seems.
Harden has been very public in the past few weeks that he wants to be with the Thunder for the extended future, and loves playing with the team. Harden is currently on the final year of his contract, and will become a free agent
next summer, that is if the Thunder does not give him a contract extension.
Harden was drafted by the Thunder the same year as Serge Ibaka. Since his arrival in Oklahoma City, the franchise has risen to the top of the Western Conference, and is just coming off a trip to the NBA Finals back in June. The
Thunder have one of the strongest teams set up in the NBA, and all their core players are young and have many years ahead of them. That would be the ideal situation for any NBA front office. However, Harden is up for contract extension and the way he has played
these past few seasons, he deserves a big contract.
In order to keep the Thunder core that has been so successful these past few years together, the Thunder need to spend some money. They have already signed Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to contract extensions, and finalized
a deal with forward Serge Ibaka regarding a four year contract extension earlier in the month.
Now, its Harden’s turn and the Thunder will have to find a balance between managing the salary cap and fulfilling Harden’s expectations.
Thunder owner Sam Presti had previously said that he was willing to go into the luxury tax to give the Thunder a chance of winning an NBA title. And he re-iterated that recently.
“We’ll be open in saying that there are a lot of inherent challenges this organization faces as a result of the new CBA. With that said, we also maintained that we’re going to figure out a way to build a team that’s competitive
within the new system and capable of [competing for championships]. Nothing changes in that respect,” said Presti.
“I don’t want to speak for James or any of our players, but he knows how much we think of him,” added the owner.
It looks as though both parties are well on their way to reaching an agreement over a contract extension, but nothing is for sure till the contract is actually signed.
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