A Monday night "Shams bomb" revealed that the Los Angeles Clippers and James Harden are working on a trade, and suddenly, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in everyone's mouths as a landing spot for Harden within the next 48 hours.
Well, that escalated quickly.
And while a Harden-for-Darius Garland swap would satisfy the growing buzz that Cleveland is ready to move on from Garland, NBA insider Marc Stein stepped into the discourse shortly after midnight to dispel the Harden-Cavs conversation.
Marc Stein says Cavs, Clippers not close on a James Harden trade
"League sources tell The Stein Line — amid multiple reports about a potential Harden-for-Darius Garland swap with Cleveland — that discussions regarding such a trade have not yet reached an advanced stage," Stein wrote.
Stein then reported that recent trade talks between Los Angeles and Cleveland have been centered on Clippers players John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic, not Harden. Furthermore, Collins and Bogdanovic were being asked about in a potential deal involving De'Andre Hunter, who, of course, is no longer a Cavalier.
Let's hope Stein is right, and the Cavs aren't anywhere close to trading for Harden. After all the stubbornness that's gone into Cleveland hanging onto Garland, it would be incredibly frustrating to see Koby Altman whimsically trade Garland away for a 36-year-old, past-his-prime Harden, who is looking for a contract extension that the Clippers didn't give him, by the way.
Why should the Cavaliers be the team to take on Harden's problems, at the expense of Garland, no less? Altman would be able to find a much more fruitful (and younger) trade return for Garland if he were desperate to move Darius before 3 p.m. ET on Thursday.
If not, Garland would surely demand a better return than Harden in the coming offseason, when teams like the Brooklyn Nets could come calling.
When asked on Monday night whether or not he wants Harden to stay in LA, Clippers head coach Ty Lue said, "Who wouldn't want to have James Harden?"
This answer from Lue might as well be taken as an ironic revelation that, in actuality, no one wants Harden. At least, they would not want him at the price James is asking for (and that includes the Clippers).
Trading Garland is a must for Cleveland, but doing so for Harden would be an embarrassing turn of events. After a savvy trade that enhanced their perimeter defense with the additions of Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder, acquiring Harden would undo much of that victory.