What changed to make The Athletic believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are suddenly considered serious contenders again? Oh, yeah. The James Harden trade! Yeah, that James Harden. He's helped put the team back on the path of being a serious threat in the playoffs.
As Sam Amick wrote, Cleveland made "the most potentially impactful deal at the deadline" by acquiring Harden (subscription required).
Since the 36-year-old made his debut on Feb. 7, the Cavaliers have a 6-1 record with him in the lineup (he missed Wednesday's and Friday's losses). During that span, Cleveland's offensive rating (121.7) ranked third in the league, and its net rating (10.6) ranked fourth.
Harden has averaged 18.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 8.0 assists, shooting 49.4% from the field and 48.8% from three since the trade. You can write it off as being nothing more than a honeymoon phase, but even then, you can't deny the positive shift he ignited for the Cavaliers.
The James Harden trade helped revive the Cavaliers
Literally overnight, the Cavaliers went from not being taken seriously in the East, with questions swirling around Donovan Mitchell's future, to seemingly finding the ideal backcourt partner for their 29-year-old star.
Cleveland's front office has to be thrilled with what it's seen from Harden thus far, but of course, what will matter most is how the team will look when the playoffs roll around. His postseason shortcomings are real, but so far, this new partnership is working so well that it's hard to believe it will crumble. That's the hope, at least: how far they make it could determine whether Mitchell re-signs in the offseason.
Rather than wait to give the Mitchell-Darius Garland pairing another shot in the playoffs, they opted to bring in Harden. Availability was part of the issue, as Garland played in only 26 games before the trade, and he's yet to suit up for the Clippers. Harden played 44 games for LA. Unfortunately, the injury bug caught up to him, but at least it's minor.
The Cavaliers are in the area they want to be in the East, sitting No. 4 with a two-game lead over the No. 5 Raptors. They're only 1.5 games behind the No. 3 Knicks, and 2.5 games behind the No. 2 Celtics. Sitting in the top four will give them homecourt advantage in the first round, but they can climb the standings another spot or two by the end of the season.
Cleveland was going to be a playoff team before the trade, but now it has a far better chance of achieving what it envisioned when the Mitchell trade happened.