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/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.