Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden is entering the final season of his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder next season. The Thunder are working toward signing Harden to an extension otherwise he would become a restricted free agent next summer.

Harden would receive a max-contract offer sheet from any number of teams next summer if he is on the market, a price the Thunder would rather not keep him at. Harden played two seasons in college at Arizona State and was asked if he would consider signing with the Phoenix Suns next season.

“Yeah,” Harden told the Arizona Republic. “Of course. I love it there. My mom lives there still. So that’s definitely my second home as far as my comfort level and going to school there. But obviously, I’m with the Thunder right now and what we have is special.”

Harden is just being realistic with these comments and isn’t trying to say he’d rather play for any team besides the Thunder. Harden went on to say how much he loves it in OKC.

“The kind of support we have in Oklahoma City, it’s the best in the NBA,” Harden said. “Phenomenal. Beards in the crowd, the whole nine (yards). The city is really something special.”

The Thunder would obviously like to extend Harden before next summer when he becomes a restricted free agent and that means likely asking him to take a pay cut. Harden talked about sacrifice at the end of the season and about how important it was to him playing with this core of guys in Oklahoma City.

Phoenix signed Eric Gordon to a 4-year, $58 million offer sheet this summer before the New Orleans Hornets matched the offer. If Harden is out there next summer, they’d surely offer him the same deal.

The Thunder have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook locked up through 2016. They signed Westbrook to a 5-year, $80 million extension this past season.

The Thunder had a chance to trade Harden earlier this year around the time of the NBA Draft. The Charlotte Bobcats were shopping their No. 2 overall pick and were reportedly interested in acquiring Harden for it, while the Thunder and GM Sam Presti were interested in draft prospect Bradley Beal.

The Thunder did not pull the trigger on the potential trade sending a clear message that they are devoted to this core of players and Harden in particular. It will not be easy to keep Harden and Serge Ibaka and avoid luxury tax but the Thunder are committed to seeing how far this roster can take them.

The Thunder are one of seven teams to never pay the luxury tax since it came into existence nine years ago. That is likely going to change if they extend Harden and especially if they extend Ibaka too.

They can do both and the thing that would make a team like OKC unwilling to pay the luxury tax is the harsher penalties for being over the tax line for multiple seasons in a row. By extending Harden and Ibaka, the Thunder could enter the luxury tax and for a season or two and then trade someone to get back out of it.

Harden along with Durant and Westbrook will be representing the United States in the London Olympics for the next two weeks so contract negotiations will likely be on hold until after then.

The Cavaliers can help facilitate the trade by taking on Kris Humphries in a sign-and-trade as well as possibly MarShon Brooks. The Magic would receive Brook Lopez along with three first round draft picks.

The deal for Orlando does not seem much better than the ones rumored between them and the Nets earlier that the Magic were not interested in. However, it is rumored that this deal could be done by the end of the day today.

Brooklyn would suffer harsh luxury tax penalties over the next four seasons if they do get Howard. The penalties could amount to over $100 million in four years but they still seem determined to get Howard.

“You can talk about the new (luxury) tax all you want, but if the Lakers get Nash and the Nets get Howard, then what did the new CBA accomplish?” one GM told ESPN. “You have to realize part of long-term planning is making sure you don’t help create teams you can’t beat.”

The Nets are not limiting themselves to Cleveland as the third wheel in a Howard trade and are shopping Humphries around the rest of the league as well.

The Magic agreed to another trade yesterday sending last year’s Most Improved Player, Ryan Anderson, to New Orleans in a sign-and-trade for Gustavo Ayon. Anderson will receive a 4-year, $36 million deal.

Anderson benefited greatly from playing alongside Howard as a spot-up four getting a ton of open looks from three. We will see if he can still be effective in a different landscape without Howard.

The Hornets are happy to get a good rebounder and shooter to put alongside No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis for next season.

The Chicago Bulls also made moves yesterday bringing back Kirk Hinrich to a 2-year, $6 million deal. The Bulls now have to decide if they will match Houston’s 3-year, $25 million offer sheet for Omer Asik.

Derrick Rose may not be recovered from his torn ACL until well after next season has started for Chicago. The Bulls are likely parting ways with C.J. Watson so signing Hinrich here is a big move for them.

July 11 is the first day that free agents can officially sign. Teams will have three days to match offer sheets their restricted free agents signed elsewhere.

Jeremy Lin, Eric Gordon and Roy Hibbert are three of the biggest named restricted free agents that signed offer sheets with other teams. All three are expected to have those offers matched by their former teams.

James Harden, Blake Griffin and Andre Iguodala were the last three players to make the final cut for Team USA. Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis were the final three cut and will serve as alternates for the team.

Jerry Colangelo revealed that there were nine players who were locks to make the team a week ago: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

The Oklahoma City Thunder become the first NBA team ever to send three players from their roster to play for Team USA in the Olympics.

Harden made the final cut, beating out Gordon in what was a close decision.

“I think he surprised people,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “Two months ago he was on the radar screen, but not shining brightly necessarily. Given the opportunity, he finished so strongly this season, he gave us something to really sit back and think about. He has size, he has length at his position.

“Defensively, he’s more than adequate,” he continued. “He comes up with a lot of loose balls, a lot of steals and he is a scorer. And by the way, he can also shoot it. I think there’s a little bit of a difference between the two. Tough choice we had to make, Eric Gordon, James Harden. Harden deserved it for the reasons I mentioned and we expect him coming off the bench as he did and he’s accustomed to and to play whenever he’s called upon.”

Durant was an obvious choice for Team USA. Durant did not make the team four years ago and was one of the last cuts back then when he was only 19 years old.

“Well first of all, this young man was born to play the game. He’s a coach’s dream,” Colangelo of Durant. “He has great character, he has great passion for the game. And then his skills are off the charts. He plays with such enthusiasm that it’s difficult to keep him off the floor and in the World Championships he just rose to another level.”

Westbrook became a no-brainer when players like Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade pulled out of the Olympics because of injury. Westbrook was a part of the 2010 World Championships team with Durant.

“No, there isn’t [a more explosive player],” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I love Russell. It’s an honor to coach him. He is such a versatile player and as good an athlete as there is on this planet playing basketball. He plays with an abundance of energy and courage. I’m a big Russell Westbrook fan.”

The Miami Heat were the only other team that could have also had three players make the roster. Four years ago, LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh were all on the team and that was when it was rumored they decided to all try and play together when the time came.

The Olympic Games begin July 27. The first game for Team USA will be July 29 against France. Team USA will play five exhibition games before the Olympics start with the first one being July 12 vs. the Dominican Republic.

Here is the final roster:

Over the past few months, potential hopefuls for the final roster have been dropping like flies. Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will all not be playing this year.

Team USA will still have a pretty good roster and will be the favorites to win the Gold Medal. Jerry Colangelo announced last week that nine of the 12 roster spots were already secured.

Those nine players are: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Blake Griffin is also a lock now to make the final roster leaving two spots to be fought over between four players: Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Eric Gordon and James Harden.

It is likely that the final two spots will be determined by two position battles: Gay vs. Iguodala and Gordon vs. Harden.

Gay vs. Iguodala

Both played on the 2010 World Championships team. Gay played some center for that team while Iguodala was the perimeter defensive specialist.

Looking at the 10 locks for the roster now, 3-point shooting seems like something the team would want to add. Gay is a better 3-point shooter than Iguodala by far but the versatility that Iguodala brings might give him an edge too.

Gay has more size but it is not significant enough. I believe Iguodala will make the team instead of Gay because Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski will want more versatility.

Gordon vs. Harden

This is a great battle between two of the best young shooting guards in the NBA. Gordon has had slightly better numbers throughout his career so far but Harden really came on last season.

Gordon didn’t play much last season and is dealing with some issues this offseason about wanting to leave New Orleans. Harden is working on an extension with the Thunder and would join Durant and Westbrook as the third representative from the Thunder, which could work against him since they like to spread out these kinds of honors.

I think Harden gets the nod at the end of the day. His game is really tailored to the international style and I think Colangelo is really partial to him.

If Harden makes it then the Thunder would be the only team in the NBA sending three players to represent Team USA. Serge Ibaka will also be representing Spain.

Here is my final prediction of the roster:

The New Orleans Hornets are expected to match the offer to Gordon. Gordon is hoping they won’t.

“After visiting the Suns, the impression the organization made on me was incredible,” Gordon said in a statement. “Mr. (Robert) Sarver, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks, the Front Office Staff and Coach (Alvin) Gentry run a first-class organization, and I strongly feel they are the right franchise for me. Phoenix is just where my heart is now.”

Gordon is in the same position right now that Thunder guard James Harden would be in next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension with the Thunder this summer.

If Gordon can get a max offer this year, Harden most certainly can next year. Harden and the Thunder know this and it is no secret now that Harden will have to take less money to stay in Oklahoma City.

Gordon is considered by most one of the best young shooting guards in the NBA. Harden is right there with him.

Gordon and Harden will also be competing for one of the final spots for Team USA Basketball in the Summer Olympics in London.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will be representing their country in the 2012 Olympics this summer for Team USA Basketball. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo announced that nine of the 12 roster spots are secured.

Durant and Westbrook are among the nine along with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

That will leave three spots left for five players to compete for. The five players left are Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and James Harden.

Many potentials have dropped out from the team, most recently No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis and Lamar Odom.

“We will not be adding anybody,” Colangelo told Fox Sports. “We feel good with what we have.”

When you look at the nine secured spots, only two of those players play the four or five in the NBA in Love and Chandler. LeBron, Durant and Anthony could each play the four in international play but one would still believe Team USA needs some more size.

Griffin should make the team because of this and possibly Gay as well, who has more size than Iguodala and is also a better perimeter shooter.

That will leave one last spot for Gordon, Iguodala and Harden to battle for. The roster needs a shooter which would make Gordon or Harden most appealing but since they will be so small, a player like Iguodala could also be a good choice.

Right now, Gordon is probably the better spot-up shooter than Harden and would most likely get the nod but people shouldn’t underestimate Harden. It’s easy to remember his play in the NBA Finals and forget what he did this season before that.

Harden really made a leap this year inserting himself into “Top 5 SG’s in the NBA” conversations. The fact that Durant and Westbrook are going too could make the choice of Harden more likely as well.

“I’m very confident with the roster we will have,” Colangelo said. “We have a few days now to decide if we want a shooter, you’ve got Harden. Do we want a defensive specialist? There’s Iguodala. And Rudy Gay is versatile. He played (center at times) for us in the World Championships. We have people who are versatile.”

The final roster will be revealed Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST on NBA TV.

Free agency begins tonight at midnight and the Heat want to move fast to get Allen, before other teams are more prepared to possibly pursue Allen as well.

“We’ve got five or six guys earmarked (in free agency) so we’ll see how it goes,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “We want to find as much space as we can on the floor for Dwyane, LeBron and for Chris (Bosh) to be able to operate.”

The Heat can only offer Allen a mid-level exception of around $3 million. That is considerably less than what Allen may be able to get from other teams but the Heat are also throwing in possibly the best chance for Allen to win another ring.

Steve Nash will likely be leaving his previous team as well this offseason as the Phoenix Suns. Nash made $11.7 million last season and the Suns are unlikely to offer him a 3-year deal worth more than $10 million per year.

The Suns plan to go after Eric Gordon as well and would look to offer him around $12 million per year but New Orleans should be prepared to match any reasonable offer as Gordon is a restricted free agent.

Nash will be able to get much more money elsewhere starting with Toronto who is rumored to be preparing to offer Nash $12 million per year.

“There’s positives to every situation,” Nash said. “The Raptors would be one of those teams where you’re probably not going there to win a championship in the next three years. For me it’d be going home to Canada, to a great city, and trying to help an organization move forward.

“I’m open to the positives of all of them. It’d be great if four or five contenders came after me and all offered me a deal, but the reality is I might not get that opportunity. So I’m going to look at every opportunity and Toronto will be one that I’ll study as well and look at the opportunity for them to grow in the next three years and what kind of impact I can have on that team. And obviously from a community standpoint, it’s a special place for me.”

via ESPN’s Marc Stein

Nash will also most likely be targeted by Dallas and New York but he’ll be able to make the most money in Toronto. Nash would like to have another chance at winning a ring and that would be hard to imagine in Toronto but he has also said that money is still an important factor for him.

Allen and Nash are both looking for another chance at a ring to close out their careers but they would both have to take a lot less cash to do so. The Heat look like the most likely landing spot for Allen right now and for Nash that place is Toronto.

Wade will have knee surgery this offseason. Wade had knee problems during the playoffs and had his knee drained at one point.

AP: Dwyane Wade called Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski today to withdraw from Olympic team. He will need knee surgery.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 28, 2012

Wade’s absence will open up another guard spot which Thunder players Russell Westbrook and James Harden will both compete for.

Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Eric Gordon and Deron Williams are the only other guards trying out for the team so there is a good chance that Westbrook and/or Harden will make the team alongside Kevin Durant who is a shoo-in.

The Thunder are now the only team in the NBA who could be sending three players to the Olympics to represent the United States. They will also be sending Serge Ibaka who will play for Spain.

Harden has had a breakout year and great start to the playoffs so it wasn’t a surprise to see his name added to the list. It still seemed like a long shot for Harden to make the team though.

Dwyane Wade has recently said that he isn’t 100 percent sure he will be playing.

“I told them, I said, listen, I’m just going to see how I feel,” Wade said last week. “This is about being healthy — I think, for all of us, going into the summer healthy — and taking it from there.”

Wade said earlier this year that he believed players should be paid for participating in the Olympics but then took back that statement the next day.

Wade and Kobe Bryant were initially the two shooting guards that seemed certain to make the team. If Wade and also Rose are out then those are two guard spots now open for Harden to possibly fill.

There’s a good chance though that three point guards would make the team. Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook all will likely make the final roster. Kobe would be the fourth guard.

If they go with a fifth guard it would likely come down to Harden or Eric Gordon. Gordon was hurt for most of the year so maybe that could play a role in Harden being selected instead.

Team USA could also just keep four guards and probably be all right and concentrate on adding more big men since that is more of a thin spot for the roster.

One thing is for sure though if Harden has a few more games like he did in Game 4 vs. Dallas then Team USA will have a hard time passing on him.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden’s rookie contract will be up after the 2013-14 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder of course plan to re-sign he and Serge Ibaka at this point. This could become tricky considering that in 2015 Harden will be the best shooting guard in the NBA.

This past week we saw Harden play some of the best basketball of his career with games scoring 30 then 33 points, both career-highs at the time. Right now Harden is coming off the bench averaging 17.2 points per game with a 21.4 PER. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in the first week of the season.

In terms of PER, Harden is only behind Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Many Ginobili as far as shooting guards are concerned. I’ve said before that Ginobili is the type of player Harden is turning into.

Three years from now those three are going to decline considerably and Harden will be all of just 25 years old. There aren’t many other shooting guards out there who are going to be challenging Harden as the best at their position in the league.

Let’s go through the contenders assuming to not count anyone who is not yet in the league since they would only have been in the league for two years anyway by 2015.

Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, Paul George and MarShon Brooks are Harden’s competition. They all have at least an outside shot of passing Harden but it is unlikely especially considering their current playing situations.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder are going to have a chance to have on their team in 2015 the best small forward in the league (Durant), a top three point guard (Westbrook) and the best shooting guard (Harden) and maybe even the best low-post defender (Ibaka). That is crazy to think about how good this team’s future looks.

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s kind of important to have a good two-guard if you’re interested in winning championships.

In the last 12 years, the best two-guard on the team that won the NBA title scored an average of 22.5 points per game, significantly higher than any other position. Having a shooting guard who can fill it up is an essential ingredient toward winning championships.

People love to salivate over the all-around small forward but having your best player be a “jack of all trades” type doesn’t seem to necessarily result in championships as much.

Since 2000, only Paul Pierce has averaged over 13.3 points per game as the starting small forward of a championship team. Usually teams that win the title have a defensive stopper as their small forward.

Kevin Durant is obviously the small forward of the future for Oklahoma City and will always be their leading scorer. The direction Durant is headed as an offensive player is (hopefully) closer to the player that Dirk Nowitzki became in the playoffs last season (back to basket scorer).

The future makeup of the Thunder is starting to remind me more and more of the Spurs of the last decade. Durant is the Tim Duncan of the team as the reliable post-up scorer. Russell Westbrook is the lightning quick point guard who is score-first like Tony Parker. And James Harden is of course the Ginobili coming off the bench.

Before I sometimes questioned the makeup of the Thunder team in terms of where they got their offense from and if it could work in winning a championship. But the more you watch them grow together and try to project their future makeup it really makes you see just how good they are going to become.

The key to all of it is going to be Harden flying under the radar and becoming the best two-guard on the planet.