The Cleveland Cavaliers aren't winning an NBA title with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden -- that's because Mitchell and Harden are two subpar defenders in a single backcourt logging heavy minutes. This simply doesn't align with true contention. When you look around the league at the current contending teams, none of them have two defensive liabilities in their perimeter core. The New York Knicks have Jalen Brunson, but he's surrounded by three elite perimeter defenders in Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby.
Moreover, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are overflowing with fierce perimeter defenders. So are the Boston Celtics. See the pattern? It's not an accident. For whatever reason, Cleveland's front office refuses to acknowledge that a Mitchell-Harden backcourt leaves the team way too exposed defensively to contend.
All reports coming out of Cleveland are that the Cavs are fully intent on keeping Mitchell as the team's alpha moving forward. And it doesn't sound like Harden's going anywhere, either.
Latest James Harden intel suggests that he's returning to Cavs on a new deal
NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line provided info on Friday that makes it sound like Harden is absolutely going to be wearing a Cavs uniform next season ... and possibly until his retirement. Ugh.
"Sources say that the Cavaliers are confident that they will re-sign Harden on a multiyear deal at a lesser number than Harden's $39.4 million salary this season," Fischer wrote (subscription required). "There are rough early estimates in circulation in the $30 million range annually."
Fischer reiterated the buzz that's long been circulating about Harden -- that Cleveland more or less promised an extension to Harden during its move to trade for him at the deadline. Harden has a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27 that he's expected to decline this summer in order to sign a new, multi-year deal with the Cavs that will lower his AAV and help Cleveland get under the second apron.
Doing so would have been tougher with Darius Garland on the roster, seeing as Garland still has two guaranteed seasons left on his contract (amounting to $42.2 million and $44.9 million, respectively). But did the Cavs really do the Harden trade purely for financial reasons? Of course not. As a hopeful contender operating within a limited, Mitchell-centric win-now window, Cleveland also convinced itself that Harden was a basketball upgrade to Garland.
And while Harden definitely does some things on a basketball court better than Garland, he's not a massively better defender, at least not in the way that erases Cleveland's biggest weakness. The Cavs aren't being honest with themselves about this fact, and it's going to lead to another wasted season (if a championship is genuinely the goal).
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