The Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the NBA world at the trade deadline. In less than 24 hours, they made sure to get James Harden what he was looking for: A championship contender to join and sign a new deal with.
Harden waived his trade kicker so he could be traded to Cleveland. While he didn't have a no-trade clause, he could've vetoed the move by refusing to do so. That means he actually chose this team as his next destination.
Now, president of basketball operations Koby Altman just had one question to answer: What about his contract extension? As Mikey Lucas, a producer for the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, reported on X, he offered a clear answer to that matter.
Koby Altman confirms the Cavs will give James Harden a contract extension
"We can start negotiating with him post-finals. He would love to have a future with the Cavaliers. Because of his player-option, he had a de facto no-trade clause. He waived that to come to Cleveland. He wanted to be here," Altman said, per Lucas.
This update is far from surprising. While Harden said all the right things about wanting to play with Donovan Mitchell and liking the Cavs' roster, his desire to move on and leave the Los Angeles Clippers was, again, driven by his finances.
Harden has always put money first, and things can get a little uncomfortable whenever his team is hesitant or reluctant to meet his demands. That's not a criticism, just a summary of his NBA career to date.
There was no way he would've played ball and agreed to take his talents to Cleveland unless a deal had already been agreed beforehand. Even if he cannot put pen to paper until after the NBA Finals, the terms of his new deal with the team might already be crystal clear.
Harden has a player option worth $42 million for next season, according to Spotrac. There was speculation about the all-time great wanting two more years and $80 million from the Clippers, who chose to preserve financial flexibility and cap space for the 2027 offseason instead.
Considering that, he will most likely decline his player option to sign a new two-year deal with the Cavaliers. Koby Altman shaved a lot of luxury tax with his trade-deadline moves, and now the team will have more versatility with how they approach the situation to ensure Harden his payday.