NBA Rumors: James Harden's Rockets prospects could be a 'leverage only' for contract negotiations

It was a rough outing for ten-time All-star James Harden last night in Boston as the crowd kept cheering whenever he would miss or pass up on a shot with everything going against his favor.

The Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 7 against the Boston Celtics with a score of 112-88 with James Harden struggling all night with nine points on 3-11 shooting, including 1-5 from three-point range, along with seven assists, six rebounds, two steals, and five turnovers.

With James Harden's long-term status with the 76ers up in the air at this point, Adrian Wojnarowski spoke on ESPN's Get Up to address the rumors regarding the possibility of Harden returning to his former team, the Houston Rockets:

"It may ultimately be a leverage play for James Harden. Houston may be his way to get him the kind of guaranteed money, long-term money he wants from Philly, but I wouldn't underestimate it as just a leverage play. I think he's very serious about returning and Philadelphia has strong relationships with that organization."

Before this year's regular season started, Harden took a $15 million pay cut to return with the 76ers to win a title alongside Joel Embiid. But now that the goal has been eliminated by Jayson Tatum's 51-point performance, rumors of Harden heading back home to Houston become a possibility.

In the scenario that he receives an offer from the Houston Rockets and uses that as a 'leverage play' for contract negotiations with the Philadelphia 76ers, Harden might look for both a more significant contract and another shot at competing for the championship.

But if the 76ers reject the 'leverage play' and he heads back to Houston at his current age of 33 years old and his history of knee injuries, it might look like long-term money security will be his priority.

James Harden's career numbers playing for the Philadelphia 76ers

James Harden was acquired by Daryl Morey of the Philadelphia 76ers during the trade deadline to be paired as a one-two-punch dynamic with Joel Embiid. He only managed to play 21 games for the 76ers and averaged 21.0 points on 44.1% shooting, including 38.5% from the three-point range, along with 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds.

In the postseason, he averaged 18.6 points on 40.5% shooting, including 36.8% from three-point range, 8.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds as he ended up losing to the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs.

During this year's regular season, Harden played in 58 games and averaged 21.0 points on 44.1% shooting, including 38.5% from three-point range, 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds.

Even with the quality numbers he put up this season, James Harden was not named an All-Star with the assumption that he would remind everyone of the kind of player he was once the playoffs arrived.

During this year's playoffs, he only averaged 20.3 points on 39.3% shooting, including 37.8% from three-point range, along with 8.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds.