James Harden's season ended in disappointment yet again as the former MVP completely disappeared when the Philadelphia 76ers needed him most. Harden had only nine points in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics and failed to score a point in the fourth quarter from Game 5 through Game 7. He was essentially invisible outside of his stunning Game 1 explosion and the three-pointer he hit in Game 4 to tie up the series. Any and all doubt about who Harden is as a player should be gone by now. He is a great distributor who can score at the highest level on occasion but simply cannot be relied upon to deliver in the postseason.

Harden's latest playoff failure is a poor audition for his upcoming free agency but he will still have plenty of suitors as a household name who led the league in assists this year. Harden can opt out of his contract this summer and will very likely do so as he seeks the last big deal of his career. There have been rumors in great quantity regarding his desire to return to Houston, so we know they'll be in the running, and Daryl Morey will not let Harden leave the Sixers easily even after all this.

Let us take a look at a few possible landing spots for Harden in the near-certain possibility that he hits the open market come July.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

They flamed out in embarrassing fashion to Boston on Sunday but this version of the Sixers was quite good! They hit the 54-win mark, their highest total since Allen Iverson stepped over Ty Lue, and the Harden-Embiid pick-and-roll was the most efficient play in all of basketball. Harden led the league in assists and facilitated Embiid's MVP season. It was not enough to get over the hump and reach the Eastern Conference Finals but neither side should take too much heatfor wanting to run it back. Harden knows Morey will pay him well and the Sixers are pretty limited in terms of their options if he walks.