James Harden makes expected decision after Cavaliers lose LeBron James sweepstakes to 76ers

One of the worst-kept secrets of the ongoing NBA offseason was that the Cleveland Cavaliers and veteran guard James Harden basically had a handshake agreement regarding Harden's eventual return to the Cavaliers. 

It now appears that the Cavaliers and Harden have made things official.

How much did the Cavaliers give James Harden to return?  

On Thursday afternoon, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Harden and the Cavs agreed to a new three-year, $97M contract with a player option for 2028-29 and a trade kicker. The news is hardly surprising, as Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer shared back in May that Harden would opt out of his previous contract and then "receive a new multi-year deal from the Cavs as part of a wink-wink, nudge-nudge pre-existing agreement" this summer. 

The Cavaliers acquired Harden this past February as a championship-or-bust move. Cleveland later blew a 22-point lead en route to losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks, and the Knicks ultimately swept the Cavaliers. New York then went on to win the NBA Finals. 

Earlier in the offseason, the Cavaliers and Donovan Mitchell agreed to a four-year, $273M maximum contract extension that included a player option for the 2030-31 campaign and a full trade kicker. More recently, it was learned on Wednesday that Cleveland had acquired Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a multi-team trade that also involved the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards. 

Cavaliers vs. 76ers could become an epic showdown

As Charania noted, the Cavaliers are now on track to feature a starting lineup of Harden, Mitchell, Watson, Evan Mobley and fellow big man Jarrett Allen after LeBron James chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. 

To compare, the 76ers plan to start James, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and V.J. Edgecombe. After the Harden news went public, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Knicks as the betting favorites at +340 odds to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2027 NBA Finals. The Sixers were second on the list at +380 odds, while the Cavaliers were fifth at +900 odds.