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

Recently, former Thunder player Perkins participated in "The Zach Lowe Show" 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, and the future is promising, and we should keep everyone behind.' 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 needed to have his own team.' James felt he wanted his 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 player who gets the maximum salary, 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.'"