The pain from the James Harden trade keeps coming. The latest blow was dealt Wednesday night when the Atlanta Hawks selected North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have been divided on the Harden trade since it came out of nowhere in February. Darius Garland was a fan favorite and a homegrown star, but he also was frequently injured and his lack of size was a serious problem in the playoffs.
James Harden is killing the Cavaliers
Yet Harden has a long track record of wilting in the playoffs himself, and this year was no exception. While he absolutely had some good games, those were sprinkled early in series before he absolutely disappeared when the games mattered most. The Cavaliers survived his dud in Game 7 against the Pistons; they did not against the Knicks.
Harden's playoff failure was the opening salvo, and the pending new contract for Harden is a cartoon mallet waiting to drop. In between, however, the Cavaliers had to feel a small twinge of pain when Veesaar was drafted on Wednesday night.
That is because the 52nd pick originally belonged to the Cavaliers, one of the few draft picks they still owned coming into this season. They gave the pick up in the Garland-for-Harden deal, likely because Harden has more name recognition than Garland.
That pick was held by the Clippers until just moments before the selection was made, when they flipped it to the Hawks for cash and a later pick. They ultimately chose draft-and-stash prospect Narcisse Ngoy, while the Hawks took Veesaar with the pick that was once Cleveland's.
Cavaliers fans who were paying close attention likely felt a certain way seeing that pick used not on an upgrade for their own team (they were often mocked to take Veesaar at the end of the first round) but by another team.
Cleveland made a mistake
Cleveland likely needed to do something with Garland, but trading him for Harden was the wrong move. He is 10 years old, disappears when the pressure turns up to a 10, and his defense is even worse than Garland's. They didn't solve any real problems by flipping DG for The Beard.
And even though Garland is younger and arguably more dynamic as a scorer and shooter, the Cavaliers had to give up a second-round pick in the process! It is not enough that Cleveland is lining up to pay this guy $35 or $40 million a season; they also had to give up a second-round pick.
Henri Veesaar might turn into something, he might not. Just knowing the Cavaliers had to give up that pick for the right to be disappointed by James Harden? That's a tough pill to swallow.
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