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Durant: Harden could've been satisfied as OKC's 6th man

Tom O'Connor / National Basketball Association / Getty

The longer we see each player find individual success on different teams, the more we ponder about what could have been in Oklahoma City had the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden remained intact.

Their demise ultimately came during the summer of 2012 following a stalemate in contract negotiations between the franchise and Harden, resulting in OKC sending him to the Houston Rockets for assets unbefitting his true value. More money and a larger role were what he desired, and since he couldn't gain that in his situation at the time, the cord needed to be cut.

Harden served as the Thunder's sixth man for all but seven games during his three-year stint with the franchise, and looking back, heading to the Lone Star State to become the No. 1 option in Houston turned out quite well for him. Who's to say what would've happened in OKC had he stayed put and continued to come off the bench, although Durant feels that wouldn't have been an issue for Harden over time.

"I think he’d have stayed in that role. I think so," Durant told the Mercury News' Anthony Slater about Harden remaining content leading the second unit. "He’d have still been a really great player. You look at it, a lot of people wouldn’t have looked at him as a sixth man. He’d have been better. I think he’d have been better. Obviously I’m sure he loves what he’s doing now, but if we would’ve won a championship, I think the perception of him would’ve just been as a great player.

"‘He’s the heart, he’s what makes us go.’ That’s what his label would’ve been, instead of just sixth man. He would’ve probably been the best sixth man that ever was."

Analyzing "what if?" scenarios doesn't appear to be Durant's forte, though, especially when he's seemingly speaking on someone else's behalf.

"But don’t even worry about that," he said of his analysis of his former teammate. "I don’t even want to talk about that."

Harden took home Sixth Man of the Year honors for the 2011-12 campaign, averaging 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, while still playing 31.4 minutes. That was also the season the Thunder advanced to its first NBA Finals since making the move to Oklahoma City, falling to the Miami Heat in five games.

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