From the "team cancer" to the hero of the winning streak, will Harden still be able to get a big contract next year?

Before the deadline of the 21-year trade day, Harden directly gave up the Rockets' star position and was willing to join the Nets as the second or even the third leader, just to be able to win the championship trophy as the core.

It's a pity that the Nets' "Duoha" triumvirate seems to be strong, but because of injuries and "Irving doing things", they have disintegrated early before they have completed their goal of winning the championship......

After the collapse of the Nets' Big Three, Harden chose to join the 76ers and teamed up to continue to play MVP-level performance Embiid, trying to reproduce the glory of "top point guard + top center". However, although Harden and Embiid performed well in the regular season, they were unable to produce a consistent output in the playoffs, so that the 76ers were in the second round for two consecutive years.

After tossing the Nets and the 76ers, but never being able to win the championship, Harden chose the Clippers in the new season and chose to join forces with Leonard and George, the two top forwards. Although from the perspective of playing style and adaptability, Harden does have a great chance of integrating into the Clippers system and helping the Clippers to play a stronger impromptu combat power.

But his arrival also has the potential to wreak havoc on the Clippers' already well-established chemistry. Sure enough, in the early days of Harden's arrival with the Clippers, the Clippers suffered a six-game losing streak due to changes in ball ownership and tactics.

And this wave of six consecutive defeats also caused Harden to be regarded as a "team cancer" for a time. Because the outside world believes that the main reason for this wave of six consecutive defeats is Harden - he is neither capable of continuing to play superstar performances, nor can he have chemistry with the "Pepper Combination", and he is unable to maximize the Clippers' immediate combat power.

Fortunately, as the season progressed, Harden slowly integrated into the system and played a top-level point guard style. Recently, he not only helped the Clippers to a wave of nine consecutive wins, two three wins in a row, but also helped the Clippers return to the top four in the West. But even so, not many people are optimistic that Harden will be able to get a long-term big contract next year.

So, from the "team cancer" to the hero of the winning streak, will Harden still be able to get a big contract next year?

Because according to Harden's current performance of 17.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists per game, and a 46.7% shooting rate, even if he can improve the Clippers' immediate combat power, it will be difficult for him to get a satisfactory long-term contract next year. After all, Harden is 34 years old, and the offensive end is seriously down from his peak unless he can prove himself again......

1. The playoffs continue to output superstars, proving that they still have the strength to get big contracts. Judging from Harden's career, whether it is the Rockets, the Nets, or the 76ers, his performance in the playoffs has been criticized, just because he is difficult to continue to maintain superstar output.

In the two playoff games of the 76ers, Harden only scored 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.6 assists, and 40.5% shooting, and 20.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 39.3% shooting. As the team's second-in-command, his offensive performance was clearly subpar. In addition to the overall offensive performance falling short of expectations, Harden also had ups and downs in the playoffs.

For example, in the second round of this year's Green Kai, he can either score 45 points (56.7%) and 42 points (69.6%) in a single game, or only score 9 points (27.3%) and 13 points (25.0%) in a single game. Therefore, if Harden wants to get a big contract next year, the best way is to continue to maintain the superstar output in this year's playoffs, so that he will naturally be able to get the ideal big contract at that time.

2. Help the Clippers win the championship and prove that they are one of the best championship puzzle pieces. Judging from Harden's current strength and age, if he can't continue to maintain a superstar output in the playoffs, then the best shortcut for him to get a big contract is only to help the Clippers win the championship.

If Harden can use his ability to help the Clippers win the championship in the playoffs next year, then Ballmer will have a high probability of giving Harden a long-term big contract, whether it is to maintain the original lineup or for the reward. And even if the Clippers don't want to, as long as Harden proves that he still has what it takes to be a piece of the championship puzzle, the rest of the league will favor him.

So in the playoffs next year, as long as Harden can continue to play superstar or help the Clippers win championships, he may get an ideal big contract. However, if Harden is unable to maintain a superstar performance in next year's playoffs and help the Clippers win championships, then he may have to say goodbye to the salary cap completely......