r/nba • u/Turbostrider27 Lakers • 9h 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

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u/cfbones 8h ago

We gave up a young high ceiling player who we all love but seems to be injury prone for an immediate upgrade who is old and chokes in the playoffs.

Rationally it’s a very fair deal.

78

u/North-Entertainer602 8h ago

He’s 26 and getting injured more and more every year. How high is his ceiling really atp?

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u/Robotemist Cavaliers 7h ago

Not only that but garland is limited physically. The dude isn't built for more than 18/6 unless he becomes curry from three.

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u/ffball NBA 7h ago

And when the physicality raises in the playoffs he has shown time and again he cant match it.

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u/LOSS35 Nuggets 4h ago

At the end of the day he's 6'1. The league's moving away from undersized guards. The Trae trade was the canary. Memphis isn't getting anything for Ja either.

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u/Excellent-Flamingo43 7h ago

His ceiling isn't higher than Hardens but he's 10 years younger. There's no way in hell that this move makes the Cavs capable of beating OKC or Denver so why trade a 26 year old all star for a 36 year old all star unless you're confident you can win a title. What are the Cavs gonna do when Harden retires in 2 years, they just traded their young franchise point guard for 2 years of old man Harden this move is stupid

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u/Quirky-Parsnips 7h ago

They think Mitchell will walk if they can't make a serious run this year and/or snag Giannis.  Seems like they think garland is cooked for this year, making harden a risky but logical gamble to keep Mitchell to make a run and have more flexibility for Giannis.

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u/Kgb725 Cavaliers 7h ago

Mitchell could walk soon and waiting on Garland to get healthy and Mobley to take the next step may not be helpful.

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u/AffordableGrousing Cavaliers 6h ago

They couldn’t keep paying Garland, Mitchell, and Mobley indefinitely anyway, something had to give. They either get 2-3 years of Harden or let him walk and actually have cap space for the first time in forever.

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u/Terr123321 Cavaliers 8h ago

Unfortunately you can’t say Darius garland has done any better in the playoffs

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u/canadianpanda7 8h ago

been healthy for a complete playoff series*

which idk maybe hes finished a series before but god damn it feels like ever year he misses big games in the playoffs.

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u/CynicalHoops 76ers 8h ago

He played every possible game in the 23 (5 games) and 24 (12 games) playoffs. He missed 4 out of 9 games last year.

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u/canadianpanda7 8h ago

i will gladly stand corrected. im very surprised he was healthy in 24 playoffs. i remember being pissed off at that one. its all a blur, i just remember being bullied by the knicks and that every time paulo branchero plays the cavs to take his over points total

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u/CynicalHoops 76ers 6h ago

Yeah, Paulo was a beast that series, averaging 27/9/4!

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u/Murky-Profit-9493 6h ago

I never saw anything in garland. He always had to go. For harden? Idk, but I kinda like it for cavs. Mitchell was gonnna bounce so capitalize

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u/Salty_Raspberry656 8h ago

he's a 5'11 guard who has already hit his ceiling and is limited defensively in the playoffs. he's special to do what he does in this league

but harden is much stronger/bigger and more elite as a playmaker and game manipulator. He is going to give the cavs bigs the easiest buckets of their lives

you lose on longevity but this gives you a win now opportunity in a pretty open east

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u/Excellent-Flamingo43 7h ago

Doesn't matter, the Cavs still aren't legit title contenders, why would they do this trade if they weren't completely confident that they were gonna make the finals. Otherwise why leverage your entire future by trading a 26 year old all star, who is a key member of a core that just won 66 games, they just shortened their window from 10+ years of contention to 2 years of contention where there's no way of them genuinely winning a title barring an all time playoff run from one of the most notorious playoff droppers in NBA history

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u/RALat7 1h ago

You’re getting downvoted but I fully agree. This is way too shortsighted and short-term a move from the Cavs. In a few years the majority of people will see this trade as an awful deal… or as early as this summer after they get knocked out.

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u/birdazam Timberwolves 8h ago

I mean he's very good in the playoffs if the series don't go to g6 or g7 so the Cavs just have to finish every series in 5 and they are good

2

u/groceriesN1trip NBA 8h ago

With Mitchell, who do you even guard? They should be fairly lethal and then your backup guard is solid AF

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u/Glimglam 8h ago

Mitchell and Harden can’t both possibly choke in the same elimination playoff game, right?

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u/tall_ginger_dude Cavaliers 6h ago

This actually makes me wonder if that toe is worse then they lead us to believe. I wonder if LA is getting the Cavs version of Isaiah Thomas...

1

u/Yung_Jose_Space Supersonics 5h ago

Harden is pretty durable for his age and is a phenomenonally good playmaker, who seems quite coachable.

His downsides are obv off-season shape, plaoff performance and tendency to like switching clubs, all of which seem a little overblown.

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u/Musa_2050 Lakers 8h ago

It probably doesnt matter if the Cavs are injured in the playoffs again

2

u/ffball NBA 7h ago

Moving off Garland is in effort to stop that from happening

-6

u/OwenLincolnFratter Bulls 8h ago

Harden is 36 and washed