Sam Presti didn’t say that signing James Harden would be impossible.

It just seemed that way.

“James is somebody we value,” Presti said Monday afternoon. “We think he’s an important part to what we’re trying to do with our team and we’re hopeful that he’ll be with us.”

The deadline to sign him is Oct. 31, so there’s still a lot of time to hammer out the details. But Presti seems to be laying the groundwork for what will happen when a deal doesn’t get done — Harden will become a restricted free agent next summer, some team will offer him an exorbitant amount of money that the Thunder won’t be able to match, and Harden will be playing for another team after this season.

via Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman