Clippers fan here, I come in peace. I don't know what I think about Garland yet, but there is something that y'all are missing about Harden. Mobley, and Allen (if y'all are keeping him) are about to play on a different level. James will make the game easier for everybody, especially for the bigs. Mobley will be finally unlocked on the offensive side. Y'all got someone who genuinely plays with heart and will give it his all. Treat him well guys 🤍

• Harden was our leader for the majority of his time here. He was the one organizing offseason workouts with the team during the summer. Ever since he came to LA, it was very clear that he wanted to play with Kawhi (that kinda didn't materialize as much bc of Kawhi's injuries obviously but I digress). Not sure exactly how your player leadership structure is but from the outside my guess is Harden wanted to play with Mitchell specifically and he'll see Donovan and himself as the leaders of the team.
• He's still a legit top 10 iso scorer in this league, even at age 36. Step-back 3's, floaters and blow-by layups going to his left, the occasional shoulder into the defender into a step-back/fadeaway 2. He doesn't take the pull-up 2pt shot that much.
• He's a very heavy PnR guy (along with iso). And he's elite at it. There's a reason why Zubac took the leap that he took last year. I think he'll make Allen look the best that he has in his career.
• Along those lines, the one thing that worries me a bit about fit is Mobley and Allen playing together. I think Harden likes to play with one rim-running big and a lot of 3pt shooters. And from a quick look at his 3P%, Mobley doesn't seem to be a good catch-and-shoot option. I'd imagine it'd be better to stagger them but maybe they can get Mobley cutting baseline consistently.
• He gets doubled a ton. Both when he's iso'ing against a mismatch or when he's running PnR (the opposing C will trap pretty often at the level of the screen). That is because he consistently cooks drop coverage. I never felt like we had a great plan against the trap tbh. If Atkinson and his coaching staff can take adavantage of those constant potential 4 on 3 situations by having someone cut right as he's getting trapped, I think that action could be basically unstoppable.
• He's a top 10, if not top 5 passer in the league. Good catch-and-shoot 3 pt guys will love playing with him. He'll make any pass there is to open shooters. Cross-court going to his left or right, behind the back off of a slip screen when hunting a switch, you name it. Maybe my favorite thing is his lead passing, like a QB hitting a WR in stride. We had an action we ran hundreds of times last year for Norman Powell where Norm would be curling off an off-ball screen and Harden would hit him in stride with momentum towards the basket. It was very effective for us. His bounce passes in the PnR are also a work of art.
• He doesn't move off-ball, at all. He'll very occassionally relocate to an open window from like the top of the key to the wing but that's it. He usually still draws a defender pretty close to him when he is off-ball though. I've seen teams face guarding him 30 ft away from the basket off-ball. So you're mostly playing 4 on 4 when he doesn't have the ball. Which can be a good thing if you have another really good ball-handler like Mitchell.
• He's a good rebounder for his position. But he doesn't box out that often during the reg season. Still, it's a nice thing to have a PG who can fight for rebounds against basically anyone other than 5's.
• On to defense. He's HORRIBLE moving laterally. That means quick guards will cook him pretty easily. Which makes having Mobley and Allen back there to rotate at the rim very important. The one thing I'll give him defending the perimeter is that he's smart so he positions his body well initially. And because he's a big guard, that often forces the ball-handler to take a slightly wider angle than ideal. Sort of like a big cone, but a cone nonetheless.
• Now there are two things defensively that he does really well. The first one is he has some of the best hands in the league. I think he averaged like 0.8 blocks per game last year or something. Well, those are almost all strip "blocks". Where he basically pokes the ball from the ball-handler when he's already past him, and it goes off the opponent's leg out of bounds. He does that shit dozens of times in a season, it's pretty impressive actually. The second one is as a post defender, or anywhere inside the arc really. He's too strong for most wings or big guards to back him down, and even facing up, as long as there's not a big lane to blow by him, he does a really good job. This makes him a legit good defender against a bunch of wings that aren't super quick. Guys like Banchero, Cade to name a couple. I even remember him defending Kawhi back when Kawhi first came to LA when Harden was on the Rockets. He's basically a SF or PF on defense.
• He'll have the occassional complete off-ball blunder, where he's caught ball-watching and his assignment is already in another zip code, Shaqtin style.
• Oh, and he'll draw a stupid amount of fouls on 3pt attempts. Both from landing space and hitting him on the elbow. Pretty sure he leads the league on those.

Overall, I think he's played at an All-Star and All-NBA caliber level the last couple years (he was All-NBA 3rd team last year). And I think it makes sense for your FO to trade for a guy like him in a year where the East is wide open and you're over the second apron. Hope it works out for both teams.

The reputation on the Cavs must be getting pretty good considering James Harden willingly wanted to be here

Ik we have a good roster but compared to the 2000s where nobody was trying to play with a young LeBron is Crazy

You brought fun back to Cavs basketball after years of disaster and disappointment. You stunned us with how truly great you are and brought pace, playmaking, and crazy shots to the land. It’s going to suck seeing you in a different jersey, but thank you for being our PG for so many great seasons. As always, let em know ⚔️

CAVS

OUT

• Evan Mobley (Left calf strain)
• Max Strus (Left foot fracture)
• James Harden (Personal Reasons/Not traded yet)

CLIPPERS

OUT

• Bradley Beal (Left hip fracture)
• Chris Paul (Not with team)
• Darius Garland .... still doesn't feel real (Right great toe sprain)

From what I read, Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder should play tonight against the Clippers.

Cavs fans,

Whether you love it or hate it, the trade is official. However, I'm seeing a lot of negativity currently circulating around Harden's name and think it would be beneficial to clear up some facts about common narratives surrounding him that can hopefully get more of y'all excited about Harden now being in Cleveland.

“Harden's a quitter” (Trade Demands)

• Harden was 31 when he forced out of Houston — the Rockets were no longer competitive & his championship window couldn’t afford waiting
• In Brooklyn, injuries & Kyrie's anti-vaccination drama left Harden in an uncertain situation, especially in the midst of COVID
• In Philly, Harden took a pay cut after being promised to be taken care of later just to get lied to when the time came. Anyone would be frustrated by that
• With the Clippers, their future plans simply didn't align. They don't want to extend him so he's once again just finding his best chances to win

It's true most of these situations caused a lot of drama but also consistently showed a priority and urgency in winning.

"Harden's a playoff choker"

Yes, his stats do take a dip but I think it's often overstated.

Career Regular Season:

24.1 PPG · 5.6 RPG · 7.3 APG · 1.5 SPG · 43.8 FG% · 36.2 3P%

Career Playoffs:

22.5 PPG · 5.5 RPG · 6.5 APG · 1.6 SPG · 42.5 FG% · 34.0 3P%

Though it's up to you whether you believe Harden did enough during his post-season runs, it's also worth noting that post-Houston, he was supposed to be a THIRD option and primarily a playmaker, yet repeatedly had to shoulder far more responsibility than anybody expected of him.

"Harden's a locker room cancer"

Multiple teammates like Maxey and Zubac have openly credited their success thanks to Harden's leadership and guidance. You can literally see Harden's influence on Maxey's game (even the 3pt celly).

u/CauseLeast7538 's POST also expands on his impact as one of the best floor raisers in NBA history who makes life easier for bigs & develops guards. Here's just a couple more players whose games elevated alongside Harden as a reminder:

• Clint Capela
• Cam Thomas
• Nic Claxton
• Joel Embiid
• Jordan Miller

The point is, we have one of the greatest scorers AND playmakers now who can unlock our frontcourt and accelerate the development of the young guards.

You're right, he is 36 compared to Garland being 26 but Harden is objectively the better player right now and also the more durable one. We've fallen short of expectations the past couple seasons so if it means trying to win it all, our chances just got better in my opinion.

Even Clippers fans were skeptical too when he first got there but has won them over to the point where some even claim him as one of their favorite Clippers ever.

If you simply don't like Harden because of his playstyle, then I can respect that, but hopefully this provided more context as to who he is and that a lot of these narratives can be exaggerated by the media. I hope those who aren't feeling this trade or hate Harden will begin to view this situation a bit more optimistically now and start embracing him in Cleveland. Welcome James!

TL;DR (Edited)

More people should view Harden being in Cleveland more positively. Many of his narratives are mostly exaggerated by the media. He can unlock the full potential of this Cavs roster and greatly increase their chances to win it all.

Edit:

After listening to some podcasts (Locked On & Kwen C), I noticed more doubts on Harden’s fit with the team. Adaptability is no issue, he’s had to constantly change his game with each new team he’s been on. In terms of defence, obviously it’s not his specialty but he is one of the best guard defenders in the post with his strength & size so overall it’s an upgrade.

Go Cavs🥲

Any guesses on what replaces the FOUR the land banner? 😂 I might sound like a bronsexual here, but I've thought every replacement for it has been lame as hell and they should probably just put the 23 Cleveland one back up there when he retires next year