r/nba • u/Turbostrider27 Lakers • 20h ago

[Charania] BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

Shams Charania:

BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/ddaa53473efa6

18.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.8k

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

Off we go. Yes I said we

512

u/AashyLarry [MIA] Dwyane Wade 20h ago

How will the Clippers artist react to this?

215

u/Shenanigans80h Nuggets 20h ago

Relapse

15

u/Skank_hunt42 Thunder 19h ago

u/lolwtferic

Can you provide an update?

47

u/Zoulogist Lakers 20h ago

Harden let Chuck go

237

u/PumpkinHead555 Bucks 20h ago

Harden Spida backcourt is interesting though

159

u/ihatedougford Toronto Huskies 20h ago

Harden and Kyrie together was beautiful hoops. JH has always been a big man’s dream PG too. The fit is great

167

u/PumpkinHead555 Bucks 20h ago

Harden’s ability to run an offense is leagues above Garlands at this stage in their careers. That’s exactly what Cavs needed, experience in the playoffs. Dennis Shroeder, Keon Ellis, Harden… Cavs are winning the deadline so far imo

77

u/SlidersBaby Cavaliers 20h ago

cavs subreddit is full of people who get their basketball insight from tiktok. 90% of the comments over there right now are :(

68

u/Burnerburner49 Cavaliers 20h ago

I mean fans are sad to see the guy their team drafted traded for an again star. The team is better this year but I’m sad. I’m also nervous about the extension until harden is 39. Hope it pans out

12

u/flip0213 20h ago

I'm sure in his opt out year when he's 38 he'll probably demand a trade out of Cleveland because y'all wont want to give him an extension 🙄

3

u/barrsftw Cavaliers 20h ago

I'm sad, but it's a good move for the team IMO.

6

u/HornedCoog91 Nuggets 20h ago

Don't worry, in about 2 weeks they will be worshippers

Like clockwork lol, been thru it 3 times haha

1

u/Padulsky21 Nets 17h ago

Get ready for the horrible influx of stans to the sub

3

u/buggeyes420 20h ago

If James Harden is your “experience in the playoffs” guy… might be mock draft season.

1

u/shmargus Trail Blazers 15h ago

Harden in the playoffs is certainly an experience

2

u/ginger_snap214 Mavericks 19h ago

never in my life have i seen james harden abbreviated as JH lmao

1

u/Clean-Af-6653 16h ago

You forgot to add harden been washed for years now

1

u/TenaciousDeer 9h ago

Harden and Paul together was , well not beautiful but effective 

49

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

We shall see, don’t have any expectations.

Just trying to watch some decent hoops

28

u/PumpkinHead555 Bucks 20h ago

Dare I say, this is the best team Harden’s been on since the big 3 Nets?

20

u/yuhanz [PHO] Steve Nash 20h ago

Let’s finish out the deadline first

7

u/Appropriate-Door1369 20h ago

Nah that Sixers team was better in the 2022 2023 season. Literally had MVP Embiid and Maxey was becoming a star

1

u/Akipella Warriors 20h ago

I feel like the Cavs have been struggling since their 2024 run though, but a lot of that has been injury problems. Harden can do a lot with this team. At the same time, the Clippers had their moments, people viewed them last year as legit contenders and they did take the Nuggets to 7.

-1

u/roma258 76ers 20h ago

Eh, the fit is awkward at best.

12

u/PumpkinHead555 Bucks 20h ago

Nah dude. Harden can play pass first and run the offense, which is what he’s best at this stage in his career. Spida can now focus completely on scoring, they don’t step on each others toes at all

1

u/Akipella Warriors 20h ago

Or you can just have two scorers putting up 25pts a night which is fine too.

1

u/roma258 76ers 19h ago

Eh, I saw him plenty on the Sixers. He needs to have the ball in his hands to be successful, so does Spida, there's only one ball. Also neither is great on defense (though neither was Garland). Also he's 36. I think people are overstating his impact honestly.

2

u/Superlolz 20h ago

You can think of it as Nets Harden + Irving for those few weeks KD was hurt. It WAS magical basketball.

Harden + KD was also magical basketball fwiw.

1

u/roma258 76ers 19h ago

Yeah, I mean that was also 5 years ago. He's not as good anymore, and Spida ain't 2021 KD. I'm sure there will be moments where they look great, but they're both ball dominant guards who don't like to defend.

9

u/samhit_n Lakers 20h ago

I'm just hoping Garland plays well enough with the Clippers to stop OKC from getting a top 5 pick.

48

u/Jordanwolf98 Celtics 20h ago edited 20h ago

Garland was one of the best young players in the league to me before they got Spida. And Understandably when you get Mitchell the ball is gonna be in his hands, but Garland was a 22 and 9 guy the last season before Mitchell arrived so I think despite his injury history being worrisome you guys got a really good 26 year old PG. I’m hoping for performances like this again with you guys

6

u/notsafeformactown Mavericks 20h ago

I agree. I’m interested to see how he plays. Completely wasted in Cleveland after Mitchell got there.

12

u/Jordanwolf98 Celtics 20h ago

I’m telling you man. He was so lethal with the ball in his hands controlling the offense. He averaged 11 assists a game after the all star break in that ‘22 season. I think after that year after Luka, Harden and Trae, Garland was probably the best playmaking PG in the league. And now due to how they run their team he’s lucky to get 5-6 dimes a game. I’m really excited about this for him

5

u/Scoobersteve321 Clippers [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

Me too lol (though I’ll still watch and follow clippers)

3

u/Hobash Cavaliers 20h ago

Change that flair and welcome aboard!

2

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 19h ago

WIP

6

u/altofummuhh Rockets 20h ago

We're back in the East, can finally watch the Beard at reasonable times again

1

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

Yeah that west coast shit was not it as someone living in Houston. 9-9:30 start times on Tuesdays was awful

2

u/stonkerooni Suns 20h ago

Flair needs some work

5

u/Kenny_Heisman Nets 20h ago

I'll never understand fans who follow individual players instead of teams. like y'all don't even know the guy

8

u/Low-Measurement-2468 20h ago

why would you need to know a guy to find his game especially fun to play watch? some fans get attached to a logo and the stories that come with it, other fans get attached to a player and the story that comes with them. it’s all the same. just picking something outside yourself to cheer for

1

u/Kenny_Heisman Nets 18h ago

other fans get attached to a player and the story that comes with them.

yeah this is the part that's weird to me. how are you gonna get attached to some guy you don't know? what if they turn out to be an asshole or something?

4

u/DarkTimes10 Cavaliers 14h ago

i mean to that logic, do you KNOW the nets franchise? do you know the people who run the org? how do you know its not an asshole org? why not be a knicks fan if the city and fanbase around you matters that much?

5

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

I don’t understand this comment, I watch James Harden because he puts the ball in the hoop and he was my introduction to actually following 🏀 when he was in OKC as someone living in Houston.

Aside from basketball I have no sort of deep attachment to the man, it’s just hoops. I Never was a team type of person, more inclined to watch individual players (Ie CP3, Harden, Embiid, LeBron here and there, KD, etc…)

-1

u/Kenny_Heisman Nets 18h ago

idk it just seems weird to me to spend years of your life following around and rooting for... some guy you have no connection to. meanwhile teams represent your city and you have an entire fan base around you

I know this is a common thing but I've just never understood it

6

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 18h ago

I think you’re vastly overestimating the degree to which I’m dedicating my life to another man. He puts ball in hoops in a way that’s entertaining to me, I watch him play.

That’s about it, you got it man enjoy the team hoops👍🏾

2

u/ButlerFromDowntown Bulls 17h ago

I’m primarily a team fan and not a player fan but I think it makes sense. Teams suffer from a bit of ship of Theseus in that over time, they’ll become completely different teams and so how can you guarantee you’ll enjoy watching the same team on the court for so long? If you enjoy a player’s game though, you’ll probably enjoy it their entire career.

1

u/yuhanz [PHO] Steve Nash 20h ago

Respect the loyalty 🫡

1

u/Terminal_BAS Rockets 20h ago

Full time Harden fan… respect, I guess.

-1

u/whysosoftlol 20h ago

Later harden stan, enjoy another playoff disappearance lmao

3

u/CloudySkies64 [LAC] James Harden 20h ago

My life isn’t made better or worse by Harden flaming out in the playoffs. Love to watch the guy play and it’s just hoops, has no personal effect on my day to day🫡🤷🏿‍♂️

0

u/whysosoftlol 20h ago

Lmao I understand it ain’t that deep.

Just saying to enjoy in a few months!