The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
According to Jenni Carlson, who as we know wants James Harden to remain with the Thunder for his own good, James Harden is as good as gone. Via her column in yesterday's paper:
“By the same token, we've been very upfront and transparent with everybody that we have some inherent challenges that we face as an organization as a result of the new collective bargaining agreement,” the Thunder general manager continued. “I know we'd love to have him here. I think James would like to be here as well. But at the end of the day ... you have to find a way to make it work for everybody.”
Notice those qualifiers in there? By the same token? But?
You don't have to read far between the lines to realize the reality — striking a deal with Harden is going to be like walking uphill on an icy sidewalk.
Darn near impossible.
I'm not sure how she jumps from describing Sam Presti discussing ongoing negotiations without using absolute terms (perhaps, you know, since they are ongoing) to the conclusion that the team is just going to part ways with the Sixth Man of the Year (a mother's intuition?), but she is wrong.
Most consistent readers are probably already saying, "duh, it's a Jenni Carlson article, of course it's wrong" or "You'd save yourself some time if you just made a macro for typing 'Jenni is an ill-informed paper waster,'" but the truth is there are a lot of people who are worried that she might be right. There are a bunch of people of who fear the beard's reign in OKC is history.