The Cleveland Cavaliers made a bold trade for James Harden at the Trade Deadline. With each passing game, that trade looks like a bigger and bigger mistake - one that could doom this entire era for Cleveland.
Perhaps the Cavaliers right the ship and win their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. Perhaps they do so in convincing fashion, with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell going off and Evan Mobley dominating inside. Perhaps they go on to take down the wobbling Detroit Pistons and finally reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Harden trade is a disaster
That is all possible, but it does not seem particularly likely. Not after the Raptors hosted the Cavaliers in Games 3 and 4 and punched them square in the mouth. And not after James Harden has already shown he is turning back into scared, helpless James Harden -- the playoff underachiever everyone knew was waiting to burst forth.
That was always the risk when the Cavaliers traded for Harden in February. They (rightly) concluded that Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell could not win a title together as two small, offense-first guards. They then (wrongly) concluded that Harden was the solution to that problem.
Harden, he of the infamous 2-for-11 games. Harden, the one who curls into the fetal position when he is on the brink of elimination. Harden, who again and again lets his teams down when the playoffs come around. Some all-time players elevate their game when the lights are brightest; Harden just closes his eyes against the glare.
Yes, Harden is a brilliant passer and confident shooter. He dazzled the Cavaliers and their fans when he first arrived. He is good for a couple of highlight stepback rainbows or pinpoint pocket passes each game. Yet everyone -- especially fans in Houston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Los Angeles -- was ready to tell the Cavaliers what they knew to be true: at some point, Harden would collapse.
For it to have already happened in the first round against a significant underdog is surprising only in the sense of it's surprising when a baby poops in his diaper 10 minutes after you change him; you knew it would happen because that's what babies do, you just hoped it would come a little later.
James Harden has been historically bad
In Game 3, Harden shot 5-for-13 from the field, 3-for-10 from deep, and had a whopping eight turnovers to just four assists. In Game 4, he did manage eight assists, but had another seven turnovers and shot only 6-for-14 from the field.
Since the NBA began tracking turnovers, only 30 times has a player had 15 turnovers in a two-game span in the playoffs. Inexplicably, three of those have come in the last week, with Cade Cunningham, LeBron James and Harden all spraying the ball around.
That list is dotted with star players, since role players get yanked when they start turning the ball over. Unsurprisingly, who shows up the most times? James Harden, who has achieved the infamous feat a whopping seven times.
Again, 30 times in the history of the league. Harden has seven of them.
The Cavaliers swung for the fences, but they did so by trading their slightly flawed baseball bat for a whiffle bat. James Harden was never going to get the job done. And as they face the prospect of handing him a big-money contract this summer, their regret is only growing.
With each painful game Harden adds on this postseason, that regret will only grow. Because he's bound to fill that diaper again - it's what he does.
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