There's no way to sugarcoat it. James Harden hasn't looked like his best self offensively with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The man himself knows it, too. The Sixers shooting guard spoke out on his subpar shooting splits ever since making the move to Pennsylvania.

Via Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“I know that I’m not making shots,” Harden said after the Sixers' win over the Pacers. “But I’m one of the most confident players we have in this league because I put the work in. It is what it is. It’s a part of the game. … [I’ll] continue to work my [butt] off. Ain’t no other choice. Ain’t no time to feel sorry for nobody, feel sorry for myself.

“Continue to put the work in, continue to [stay in the] gym and you live with the results. That’s how I’m built.”

James Harden may look like the walking bucket that he's been over the past decade, but he's been beyond effective as a playmaker. He's tallied 10 or more assists in the Sixers' last five games, averaging 13.2 dimes in that span.

With Joel Embiid able to casually pour in 40 points like it's nothing, James Harden can definitely act as an overqualified secondary scorer and primary playmaker. But if he manages to find his shot with Embiid still looking like an MVP frontrunner, the rest of the East is in trouble.