Donovan Mitchell Raves About Incoming Cavaliers Teammate James Harden

One of the biggest and most surprising trades that was made before the NBA trade deadline involved the Cleveland Cavaliers acquiring guard James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Darius Garland plus a second-round pick.

There were rumors that the Cavs could be looking to get rid of Garland before, but the real rumors started circulating around Monday night that Cleveland is in serious talks to bring in Harden. The trade occurred on Tuesday night, as the Cavs added the former MVP to their backcourt.

Donovan Mitchell seemed to be a main driver in the talks to acquire Harden, after the game last night, he praised Harden’s game enormously:

“That guy has done it at all levels. He’s a Hall of Fame player. The biggest thing is that he will make life easier for everybody. Our bigs are gonna feed off of that. Now it’s like you gotta pick your poison.”

Mitchell's influence on landing Harden

It was reported that Mitchell asked for Harden to be a Cavalier and could have put pressure on the Cavs front office to make a move. Cleveland was also frustrated with the excuse being the same for not succeeding in the playoffs each year: injuries. Garland, unfortunately, falls into that category, with his toe injury leaking into the beginning of this season, along with suffering a separate toe injury in mid-January.

Harden brings his elite scoring talent and even better passing ability over to a spot in Cleveland that needed another distributor. Harden has averaged over eight assists per game in the past eight seasons, has averaged double-digit assists per game in eight seasons in his career, while also leading the NBA in assists per game in two seasons. He is currently 12th in NBA history in total assists.

Harden has elevated many big men to great seasons, like Clint Capela in Houston, who averaged a career-high 16.6 ppg in 2018-19, propelling Joel Embiid to his MVP season in 2022-23 where Harden averaged a league-high 10.7 dimes per game, and most recently Ivica Zubac in LA, who took his points per game from 10.8 before Harden to a career-high 16.8 this past season.

Harden now comes to Cleveland with the chance to work with two great bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, with the real chance of elevating their game to the next level. 

Mitchell also acknowledged that the team will need to come together as a group to reach their full potential with the new guys on the team.