\n<\/aside>\nJames Harden was nowhere to be found in Thursday’s Philadelphia flop. <\/p>\n
The Sixers point guard – who was traded to Philadelphia at the deadline in February to help Joel Embiid in pursuit of a deep playoff push – was 4-of-9 with 11 points in 42 minutes of action. <\/p>\n
Harden took just two shots in the second half of Philadelphia’s 99-90 Game 6 elimination loss to Miami. He took a shot each in the third and four quarters. <\/p>\n
His final performance of his first season with the Sixers likely doesn’t warrant a contract extension – but there are options. <\/p>\n
If Harden opts in to the final year of his contract, he’ll earn a $ 47 million salary for 2022-23 season, and become a free agent in 2023. <\/p>\n
If he opts out of his current contract, Harden will become a free agent this summer – and could potentially get a supermax contract worth up to $ 250 million over five years. <\/p>\n
When asked whether he plans on opting in for another year with the 76ers, Harden said, \u201cI’ll be here. Whatever allows this team to continue to grow, get better and do the things necessary to compete at the highest level. “<\/p>\n \n
Harden didn’t have much of an explanation when asked about what the Heat did to limit him in Game 6. <\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing. We ran our offense. I felt like the ball moved and it just didn’t get back to me. “<\/p>\n
The Sixers acquired Harden from the Nets in a blockbuster trade at the deadline in February, which swapped Harden for Ben Simmons. The former league MVP was the hopeful cure to the Sixers’ shooting struggles that was spearheaded by Simmons. <\/p>\nJames Harden during the 76ers’ Game 6 loss to the Heat<\/figcaption>Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHarden, who was a scoring savant during his Rockets tenure, vanished when the Sixers needed him most as the No. 2 scoring option behind Embiid – who had 20 points and 12 rebounds while playing through multiple injuries. <\/p>\n
After the Game 6 loss, Embiid said the Houston Harden fans once knew is a thing of the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden,\u201d Embiid said. \u201cBut that’s not who he is anymore. He’s more of a point guard. I thought, at times, he could have been, as all of us could have been, more aggressive. All of us whether it was Tyrese [Maxey] or Tobias [Harris] or guys coming off the bench.<\/p>\n\n