The Cleveland Cavaliers can't look themselves in the mirror and believe they are contenders with a defensive backcourt of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Maybe they fooled themselves into believing this for the last few months, but doing so moving forward would be front office malpractice. ESPN's Tim Bontemps spoke to this recently during an episode of the Hoop Collective podcast.
"Fundamentally, I just don't know if you're winning anything with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell ... because of the severe limitations it's going to cause for you defensively," Bontemps said.
James Harden wasn't the upgrade to Darius Garland that he was propped up to be
Bontemps made an excellent point that Harden coming in and replacing Garland -- though it gave the Cavs a different (and arguably better) look offensively -- didn't really do much to change the defensive problem that a Mitchell-Garland backcourt had given Cleveland for years.
Yes, Harden is a much bigger body than Garland, but he's not exactly a plus defender (even if playoff Kenny Atkinson seems to disagree), and that'll only become truer and truer with each month that Harden gets closer to age 40 from here on out.
"Having two guards like that [who] aren't really going to play defense ... makes it extraordinarily difficult to build a good enough team," Bontemps said this week (and he's correct).
Was Bontemps talking about Mitchell and Garland here, or Mitchell and Harden? Either would make sense, and that's the problem.
If the Cavaliers are going to re-sign James Harden, they should trade Donovan Mitchell
It's becoming clear that the Cavs are going to re-sign Harden this summer. Due to that inevitability, and due to the above points made about a Mitchell-Harden backcourt, it also makes sense for Cleveland to trade Mitchell this offseason.
Extending Mitchell into his mid-thirties for an exorbitant sum has its risks, as ESPN's Bobby Marks has warned about in recent days. Mitchell is a player who relies heavily on athleticism, and when that agility begins to wane, his basketball value will likely plummet.
Getting ahead of that future now by trading Mitchell and getting something in return for him while he's still in his prime would be a wise move for Cleveland. Retooling around Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen would still have the Cavs looking like a playoff team in 2026-27, especially as there are young guys like Jaylon Tyson who might take a leap.
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