Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers finished their 2021-22 season after losing to the Miami Heat 4-2 in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday. In his sixth season, Embiid became the first scoring champion center in 22 years and was a finalist for Most Valuable Player, but once again failed to reach the conference finals.

Philly's blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden in February didn't help the team achieve a breakthrough. Having averaged 21 points, 7.1 rebounds and 10.5 assists in 21 regular season games is good for most players in the league, but not so much for Harden. His stats continued to drop in the postseason, during which Harden had 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game.

When the 76ers landed Harden, they wanted someone who could feed Embiid the ball in his sweet spots and lead the offense when Embiid was contained by the defense.

Harden gave the team the first on most occasions, which wasn't too hard because he began to play much more like an orchestrator than a scorer since he joined the Nets in January 2021. Unfortunately, he failed to complete the second task and the 76ers realized that.

"Obviously, since we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden, but that's not who he is anymore. He's more of a playmaker," Embiid said at the post-game press conference after the 99-90 loss to the Heat on Thursday. Embiid is a dominant player, but he is not a very tolerating teammate. His comments on Ben Simmons have been far from nice for over a year.

Harden's attitude toward his performance and relationship with the 76ers is less clear. When asked why he only shot twice in the second half of Thursday's game, he said "the ball moved, and it just didn’t get back to me." But he also announced he wants to stay on the team. "I'll be here … whatever allows this team to grow and get better and do the necessary things to win and compete at the highest level," he said.

Harden has the player option for the 2022-23 season and the 76ers will need to pay him $47.4 million if he decides to exercise it. After that, he can sign a new deal that is as big as four years, $233 million. If he chooses to sign an extension this summer, it can be as lucrative as five years, $270 million.

Should an NBA team's front office keep their job if they give an almost 33-year-old player, who plays like Harden did this season, a contract as big as either of the above?

In Harden's defense, his underperformance comes from a hamstring injury, a problem he has been dealing with for more than a year. It cost him a huge chunk of his explosiveness, making it hard for him to charge the paint like he did before. Moreover, the rule change in guarding 3-point shooting this season encouraged defenders to throw themselves at Harden without worrying about fouling. When he loses his two most lethal offensive weapons, penetrating to earn free throws and step-back 3-point shooting, it's only natural for him to become less threatening.

However, it's also why the 76ers shouldn't pay him over $200 million, even if they want to keep him for all those valuable assets they gave up to trade for him in the first place. Tobias Harris has two years and $76.9 million left on his contract. Judging by his performance in the past few seasons, it's hard to imagine any team is willing to take him unless the 76ers agree to sweeten the pot with the very limited chips they still have left.

Embiid's contract is much bigger than that. The 76ers will pay him $33.6 million for the 2022-23 season. After that, the four-year, $195.9 million deal he signed last August will take effect, starting with $43.7 million. Even if Harden agrees to take a discount, his contract combined Harris' and Embiid's will squeeze most of the team's salary space that can be used to enhance the franchise.

As one of the several teams that tried to win quickly by assembling star players in recent years, the 76ers didn't reap the benefits, but soon fell into the expensive payroll trap. Unfortunately, they will stay there for at least another two years. So, like it or not, Harden, Embiid and the 76ers will be stuck with each other for a long time.

So, does the team have any other card to play? Well, usually a championship contender prefers to make the head coach the scapegoat after failure. Doc Rivers, who took over the 76ers in October 2020, has not led the team to any convincing result. In fact, many of his decisions were under a lot of criticism, like keeping Embiid in a long-gone game until he suffered a concussion and a right orbital fracture during the series against the Toronto Raptors this season. Rivers' over-reliance on veteran players and slow response to the situation on the court are not points in his favor either.

At least Rivers doesn't have to worry about finding another job since the Los Angeles Lakers, which are in the similar situation as the 76ers, are reportedly interested in bringing him in. As for his replacement, it won't be easy to find someone who can make the Embiid-Harden pair work.