Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti issues statement on James Harden trade

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced the long-rumored trade of James Harden on Saturday night to the Houston Rockets, and it was a significant day for the franchise as they also moved several other pieces. In order to help bring clarity to any confusion, general manager Sam Presti took some time to issue a statement to the press:

"We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers," Presti said. "We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin's caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team. We appreciate James, Cole, Daequan and Lazar's contributions to the Thunder organization and this community and wish them the best in the future."

You can see the complete breakdown of the trade here.