PHILADELPHIA — At the moment, the Philadelphia 76ers are trying to pick up the pieces following a 99-90 Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat. The Sixers weren’t able to get into any type of offensive rhythm in the second half and the Heat ran away with it as they built a 20-point lead.
A guy who is going to catch a lot of heat is Sixers star, James Harden. Philadelphia made the big trade at the deadline back in February and they were hoping they were getting an explosive scorer to put next to Joel Embiid as they contend for a title.
Instead, they got a playmaking Harden, which is still very good, but he wasn’t able to produce in the playoffs. He only scored 11 points on nine shots in Game 6.
The focus now becomes Harden’s future as he and the Sixers have a lot of issues to address. One is the question of where he will play basketball in the 2022-23 season.
“I’ll be here,” said Harden with “here” meaning Philadelphia. “Whatever allows this team to grow and get better and do the things necessary to continue to compete at the highest level.”
Harden does have a $47 million player option for the 2022-23 season which he will most likely pick up and then sign an extension in the 2023 offseason. However, Philadelphia probably does not want to give him the $200 million across four seasons that he’s looking for.
Would Harden take less money to stay with the Sixers?
“Whatever it takes to help this team continue to grow,” Harden added. “And put us up there with the best of them.”
The Sixers are looking to continue to grow with Harden and Embiid leading the way. It will be good for both him and the organization to have a full summer rather than just the few months they had after the trade before the playoffs started.
“We’re trying to win a championship, man,” Harden added. “That’s the goal. Whatever that looks like. Continue to build us. Individually, continue to build better. Us as a unit, continue to get to know each other, find out what works, what doesn’t work, and things like that.”
In order for the Sixers to do that, they will need him and the rest of the roster to step up and continue to take the necessary steps forward in the offseason to build for the 2022-23 season.
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This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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