James Harden’s bleak future with the Philadelphia 76ers

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 12: James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers in Sport Six of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Japanese Convention Semifinals at Wells Fargo Middle on Might 12, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: Person expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or utilizing this {photograph}, Person is consenting to the phrases and circumstances of the Getty Photos License Settlement. (Picture by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Photos)

The Philadelphia 76ers have formally been eradicated from playoff rivalry. For the second 12 months in a row, they obtained bounced within the second spherical, and sadly, this time round was simply as embarrassing.

Final season, the dialog was about Ben Simmons and his unwillingness to shoot the ball. However fortunately for the Sixers, they traded him on the deadline for James Harden, who averaged 30 factors an evening simply two years in the past.

So this time round, the dialog must be totally different, proper? Nope. Now, the discuss of the city is how Harden took solely two photographs within the second half of Philly’s elimination recreation.

James Harden’s bleak future with the Philadelphia 76ers

Sixers followers are proper to be annoyed with Harden, but it surely’s not fully his fault. He’s simply not the identical participant he as soon as was, and he was displaying indicators of that with the Brooklyn Nets.

Harden is a shell of his former self, and primarily based on the feedback made by Joel Embiid after Philly was eradicated, they know that. Now, it’s all concerning the future.

The previous MVP has a $47 million participant possibility for subsequent season. Whereas he might choose out and attempt to work out an extension with the Sixers, that is probably not in his greatest curiosity, as he’d in all probability lose a ton of cash.

Based on Brian Windhorst of ESPN, ‘no one within the NBA’ expects Harden to obtain a max contract from the Sixers. (H/T Bleacher Report) Which means declining his participant possibility would see him lose thousands and thousands.

With how disappointing Harden was within the playoffs, this information shouldn’t come as a shock. However taking a look at how dominant Harden was simply a few years in the past, it’s loopy to see how a lot he’s declined.

It’s not an ideal instance, however is it loopy to match his path to Kemba Walker’s? Harden was clearly a significantly better participant than Walker at his peak, and he nonetheless is, however they each quickly declined over the previous couple of seasons.

Regardless, it’s arduous in charge Embiid for being annoyed. For 2 years in a row, his co-star refused to shoot the ball when wanted. That has to harm.