The Cleveland Cavaliers’ recent trade for James Harden is likely to end in disappointment.
At the 2025 NBA trade deadline, the Cavaliers traded Darius Garland and a future second-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for the former MVP.
While Harden has been exceptional during the regular season, he has been far less exceptional in the postseason.
Harden’s Inconsistencies
In his recent postseason performances, Harden has served as the second scoring threat.
With the Cavs, he’s now expected to be the second scorer behind Donovan Mitchell. He has games where he performs like the MVP and others where he fades away.
In the 2023 Conference Semifinal round against Boston, Harden scored 45 points in a Game 1 win before scoring just nine points in Game 7. In the 2024 Western Conference First Round, against Dallas, he scored 28 points in a Game 1 win before exiting with 16 points in a Game 6 elimination game.
Last year, he had another excellent Game 1, scoring 32 against Denver in the Western Conference First Round. However, he scored just seven points in Game 7. While Garland has also underperformed—scoring 18.8 points per game on 45/38/86 shooting splits for his career in the regular season and 17.3 points per game on 42/34/87 shooting splits—Cleveland is better off with a younger Garland in their core.
Garland remaining would be better than playing nearly 30 games with Harden before the playoffs. Cleveland is counting on a star player who, over the past five years, has changed teams every two years, only to face an early playoff exit.
Rising Expectations in the East
Harden and Mitchell are two ball-dominant guards, and they can make this work. Harden and Chris Paul reached the 2018 Western Conference Finals despite being the floor generals on their own teams before they played together.
But their individual lack of playoff success suggests they are unreliable to advance out of the East.
In three of the last four seasons, Harden’s team finished the regular season as the fourth or fifth seed. Meanwhile, Cleveland is currently in fourth place in the East.
Harden is like the NFL version of Josh Allen. Allen and the Buffalo Bills faced a dynasty and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs four times in five playoff appearances. The dynasty of the Golden State Warriors eliminated Harden and his Houston Rockets in the postseason four times in five years.
Mitchell has a comparison to Allen in another way.
Mitchell has been knocking on the door, making the playoffs in all eight years of his career but not reaching the Finals or even the East Finals. Allen’s rival quarterbacks were not in the 2025 postseason, and in his seventh straight playoff appearance, it was his best chance to make his first Super Bowl.
Will Harden Help Get Over the Hump?
The East is wide open this year. Jayson Tatum is not expected to play this season for the 2024 NBA Champions after tearing his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Tyrese Haliburton will not play at all for the 2025 Eastern Conference Champions after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. And Milwaukee’s window closed when Damian Lillard tore his Achilles, in Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference First Round, ending his time with them.
Cleveland may have to start on the road in the playoffs, but what matters more is the 30 games left to develop chemistry between Mitchell and Harden, who want to erase his playoff history of melting down when it matters most.
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