LeBron James' True Feelings on Cavaliers' James Harden Trade

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Christian Alamodin | Last updated Feb 17, 2026 11:24 PM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers made big moves on trade deadline day to give Donovan Mitchell the best supporting cast possible for the 2026 postseason.

The most eye-catching transaction the Cavs did involve acquiring James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers for Darius Garland and a future second-round pick. While it may seem like a one-for-one pick on the surface, The Beard is clearly a better scorer and facilitator (25.0 points and 8.2 assists per game this season) than Garland (18.0 points and 6.9 dimes a game).

However, the Harden trade isn't the only deal the Mike Gansey-led front office made. They also turned De'Andre Hunter into valuable role players in Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis through a three-way trade involving the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) passes the ball against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

As the Cavs prepare for their playoff push, one of their former stars weighed in on the trade-deadline transactions the Cavs did.

LeBron James Thinks the Cavaliers Are Pushing for the Finals

Los Angeles Lakers forward and former Cavalier LeBron James weighed in on the Cavs' transactions during the latest "Mind the Game" podcast. He told Steve Nash that the front office are in win-now mode with Mitchell and Harden at the core of their squad.

"They're going for it," James said. "They felt like they needed another playmaker, someone who had been in the situation before. They added James [Harden], who's still putting up All-Star numbers, giving Donovan Mitchell another ball-handling guy who can make shots late in the game."

LeBron James & Steve Nash on the Cavs’ trades for James Harden, Keon Ellis, and Dennis Schröder + thoughts on Max Strus:

(via @mindthegamepod) pic.twitter.com/xb2MhZbp2z
— jack (@TheCavsJack) February 17, 2026

He also said that the Schroder and Ellis pickups are great moves as well that would help shore up the team's depth.

"Those two pickups that they got from Sacramento as well," the King said to start discussing the Kings deal. "Schroder, a former teammate of mine, you know who's going to compete every single night. And Keon Ellis, the guy is going to compete make shots. Those guys are going to be very good for that team."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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