The Cleveland Cavaliers swung for the fences midway through the season. They acquired a future first-ballot Hall of Famer in James Harden, an elite playmaker and three-level scorer with nearly two decades of NBA experience under his belt.
The skepticism was warranted. He was a decade older than Darius Garland, and as impressive as his résumé is, he also arrived in Northeast Ohio with a long and well-documented list of playoff meltdowns and shortcomings.
Even so, the Cavs thought he was the missing piece to get to the next level and, for a while, it truly seemed that way. Now, with him being a liability in most of the team's playoff games, he might be playing for his future in The Land.
James Harden is running out of time to save his Cavaliers career
The Cavaliers dug themselves into a 0-2 hole again, this time against a ruthless and deep New York Knicks team that won't cut them any slack. Notably, plenty of that had to do with James Harden, who failed to get a single stop on Jalen Brunson as Kenny Atkinson watched his team blow a 22-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1 of the series.
Of course, that's not all on him, and the coach also deserves plenty of the blame. That said, it was a perfect reflection of his career to date. He was just so close to getting over the hump, and then... Collapsed. He's a 17-year veteran, so he is who he is at this point; that's never going to change.
Harden could still somewhat save face with a couple of vintage performances to keep the Cavaliers' season alive, but even there, it might just be another case of "too little, too late." He showed his true colors again, and he's not what this team needs to get the monkey off their backs.
For years, the knock on Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley is that they're too soft to get it done in the playoffs. Considering that, perhaps pairing them with one of the most infamous playoff underperformers in professional sports history may not have been the wisest idea.
Harden wanted to be traded to Cleveland because they had the financial flexibility to keep him around for another couple of years. The Cavs, however, don't need someone just collecting checks, and they might be better off just cutting their losses and thanking him for his services.
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