Before the Sixers got absolutely boat raced by the Bucks on Sunday, Joel Embiid was standing courtside with his son, Arthur, who snubbedTobias Harris:

Just a little kid being a little kid, but social media had a field day with this, and you have to admit it’s comically apropos to see him ignore Tobias but reach out to Tyrese Maxey instead. It’s symbolic for the current stretch of Philadelphia 76ers basketball. On one side is the out-of-favor high earner, who is playing poorly in the final year of a bloated contract. On the other side is the rising young star who continues to perform while the reigning MVP is sidelined via injury.

That’s the second, and more important part of this story. Tobias Harris? Great guy. Fantastic guy. But God almighty has he been poor lately. He shot 3-11 on Sunday afternoon and went 0-3 from three in an eight point, 31-minute effort. Friday night? 6-14, 15 points in a 104-97 win against the Cavs. And last Thursday? 3-9, 7 points, and a home loss to the Knicks coming out of the All Star Break.

Harris missed time recently both with an illness and a hip issue, so he’s not 100% and hasn’t been, but the story remains the same. When Embiid is not on the floor, Harris isn’t filling the void with contribution of his own, be it in the availability or performance departments. Since Embiid exited the lineup on January 30th, Harris has played eight games in which he’s averaged 15 points on 45.5% shooting, and he’s 23.8% from three while averaging 6.5 rebounds and four assists in a range of 27 to 39 minutes. His season averages, which include the recent poor run of form, are 17/6/3 while shooting 49.9% from the floor and 34.1% from three. Those are fine numbers for a guy earning $18 million, but Harris is making $39 million this season and is the 19th highest-paid NBA player by AAV. He’s making more than SGA, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, and so on, so forth. It’s one of the league’s worst contracts.

That’s always been the problem with Tobias. It’s not him, it’s not his personality, it’s not his attitude or anything like that. It’s performance. He hasn’t played anywhere close to the level of that contract this season, especially not now, with an opportunity to step up in Embiid’s absence.