Kevin Durant wants to make it clear: he is not a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder front office. While it's clear that no one on the Thunder wants to see James Harden walk, it's also going to be very difficult to keep the core of the roster together over the long-term as costs escalate each season. Durant remained confident despite the difficulty earlier this offseason when stating that his teammate wasn't going anywhere. Now he's changed his tune.
Durant on tweeting #Thunder G James Harden 'won't be hitting market': "I may be wrong. I don’t sign contracts, I don’t negotiate contracts."
— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) July 27, 2012
Durant obviously hopes for the best when it comes to keeping Harden and Serge Ibaka alongside the combo of KD and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder have a very enviable core right now that almost guarantees deep runs in the NBA playoffs for the next few years. However, the owners will have to be willing to pay the luxury tax to do so. In the end, it will be a costly decision either way.