Can James Harden Help the Cavaliers Conquer the East?

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.