NBA Exec: James Harden's 'Status as a Max, Alpha Player' Is 'Over' amid FA Rumors

James Harden is reportedly deciding whether to stay with the Philadelphia 76ers or return to the Houston Rockets, where he won three scoring titles from 2018 to 2020, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

According to an Eastern Conference executive, however, Harden's days of dictating his exact contract terms are over, Heavy's Steve Bulpett reported.

"James is in that unfortunate circumstance that we talk about all the time. Who's the last person to know it's over? The player," the executive told Heavy. "His status as a max, alpha player in this league, it's over. He can't produce wins."

Harden could make $35.64 million next season if he picks up his player option with the Sixers. If he declines, he'll be an unrestricted free agent.

With approximately $70 million in projected cap space heading into next season, Houston could get Harden closer to the maximum possible deal of four years and $201 million—or at least help him negotiate a higher contract with the 76ers after he took a a $14 million pay cut on last year's two-year deal with Philadelphia.

Harden averaged 21.0 points, sank 38.5 percent of his threes and led the NBA with 10.7 assists per game this past season. Those numbers were somewhat overshadowed by another disappointing postseason, however. In the Sixers' second-round Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, Harden shot 3-of-11 for nine points to go with seven assists.

The NBA executive told Heavy that Harden "can help a team" but questioned whether he would accept a salary equal to the value of that help.

"From our conversations, what James is looking for is someone to pay him at a rate that he thinks that he's worth, which he's not."

The executive later continued: "The unfortunate part is that more and more of us are going to metrics, and there's nobody's metric measurement that looks at him and his efficiency and what he gives up defensively and says, 'Oh, yeah, this is a guy we should max out.'"

Harden will turn 34 in August. Another rumor regarding his offseason movement involves a swap for the Phoenix Suns' Chris Paul, which would reunite Harden with his former Oklahoma City and Brooklyn teammate Kevin Durant, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.