Perkins: Harden left the Thunder not only for the maximum salary but also for the core player. KD had expected it

June 7th News Recently, former Thunder player Perkins participated in "TheZachLoweShow" and talked about the process of Harden leaving the Thunder.

He said, "After they came back from the Olympics, we went into training camp. I remember Durant said to me, 'Brother, we're going to lose James.' I was stunned. He said, 'Brother, we're going to lose James, he won't sign this contract extension.' I said, 'I know Presti will give him a big contract, he got the best sixth man, the future is promising, and everyone should be kept.' He said, 'Perkins, this is more complicated than that.' I asked, 'What does it mean?' He said, 'Brother, we were in the Olympics, everyone told James that he was Need to have his own team. 'James felt he wanted his own team. '

"So when I asked James, I said, 'James, what do you think? He said, 'No, I want the maximum salary. 'I said, 'I think their management will give you the maximum salary. 'I think Presty gave him a quote, about 60 million to 64 million, maybe a little higher. He said, 'No, I want to be the maximum salary player, I want to be the core of the team. 'I said, 'James, but you have to make sure...' He said, 'No, I want to be that kind of person. '"