One of the biggest storylines of the offseason has been James Harden's contract negotiation. The Sixers' star guard elected to opt out of his $47 million player option in favor of a more team-friendly deal. The 33-year-old had a perceived disappointing season last year despite being the only player in the NBA to average over 20 points and 10 assists.

While the contract is getting most of the attention, Harden's play is also a necessary conversation. The numbers still looked impressive but he lacked the necessary burst to create separation last year. There has been a growing concern based on his age and how much of this can be expected to return. James Harden set the record straight on this while promoting his newly launched wine. He pointed to the hamstring issues as the root of his lack of burst and reinforced that he will return to his old self.

“I’m looking to have an unbelievable season. I don’t want to just go out there and be running around and not being efficient and looking old out there. I still want to be really, really, really good…I wasn’t able to get in my spots and get to where I needed to get to without thinking about it, so that right there slowed my confidence down. It was craziness, but I’m finally back. I’ll be a lot more aggressive scoring-wise just because my body allows me to.”

Harden referred to the hamstring injury as a “wake-up call” as it was the first notable injury during his 13-year career. Hamstring injuries are tricky to deal with and can oftentimes linger for quite some time. James Harden has clearly come to this realization and is putting more of a focus on the treatment of his body.

Sixers fans should be thrilled by everything coming out from James Harden this offseason. He has made an effort to take his training more seriously, taken a pay cut in order to give the team more flexibility, and gone a long way to changing the narrative surrounding him. While Harden has been labeled as a difficult player to get along with at times, this has not been the case in Philadelphia thus far. If the hamstring injury clears up and Harden can return to his old self, it will increase the Sixers' chances of contending for a title drastically.