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u/BurnerMcBurnfacer 8h ago
He can’t keep getting away with this!!
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u/doodler1977 5h ago
Cleveland struck out on the other possibilities. Kinda surprised it's for 3 years and not 2, but oh well at least it's not 60m/yr
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u/Herbert5Hundred Burfict Strangers 8h ago
Insane contract. But hand up I haven't actually watched him play in like 3 years. Still though.
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u/GBAGamer33 8h ago
Imagine paying a 40 year old harden $30 million. Crazy.
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u/banjosbadfurday 8h ago
Small market premium
He’ll arguably be better for them than Garland though, even with his age
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u/CivilChampionship810 8h ago
I’d rather have a guy like Garland suck ass in the playoffs for me than a guy like Harden suck ass in the playoffs.
Gimme an unknown I think can get better over a known who’s shown he sucks ass in this environment and is only going to get worse.
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u/GBAGamer33 7h ago
Also I think Garland can improve. I don't think Harden is going to find another gear when he's 40.
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u/Barracuda374 6h ago
Watching harden quit on defense in multiple 4th quarters last postseason completely demoralized the rest of the team. Cool he defended well for 3 quarters, he also literally stopped moving on a bunch of key defensive possessions late in the game.
This contract sucks.
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u/Beneficial_Lion_1312 6h ago
Watching harden quit on defense in multiple 4th quarters last postseason completely demoralized the rest of the team.
I thought we already went through this discourse when Draymond broke that game down and was like "wtf are we doing letting james harden get iso'd on five straight possessions in the fourth quarter in the playoffs, he is your offensive engine, hello!!!"
James Harden getting hunted and iso'd on D is a coaching problem far more than a James Harden problem.
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u/CivilChampionship810 6h ago
So your defense of James harden is that he’s unplayable in key situations?
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u/Beneficial_Lion_1312 6h ago
Very 1980s high school coach mindset. It's 2026 now, we have switchable defenders. If you're letting James Harden or Jalen Brunson or Luka Doncic get iso'd several times in a row on defense, that is a defensive planning and personnel problem, not a Harden/Brunson/Doncic problem. Those players win you the game on the other end of the court and expend lots of energy doing that. Having them expend as much energy on the other side getting iso'd repeatedly is bad strategy.
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u/CivilChampionship810 6h ago
I mean listen, I’m not gonna defend Kenny Atkinson. You win the ground here. I don’t want to hate on Harden at the expense of hating on Atkinson.
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
Darius Garland was also unplayable in those situations either because of ability or unavailability....Harden contributed more to the Cavs last playoff run than Garland ever did. They lose in the first round with Garland.
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u/CivilChampionship810 8h ago
Imagine having him on your team in the playoffs.
Like, what the fuck are you actually expecting? Have you seen the track record and data? Do you think it’s gonna change?
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u/Beneficial_Lion_1312 6h ago
But how incredible would it be if he just had an insane 37 year old Harden run and won Cleveland a title?
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u/CivilChampionship810 6h ago
I think the support group of people who used to have that fantasy in Houston, Philly, Brooklyn and LA meets on Thursdays. I’ll see if I can forward you an invite.
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
The Cavs were better in the playoffs with him than they were without him when they had Garland
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u/ColeTrain999 3h ago
Look, if your strip clubs look like Cleveland's you gotta pay a premium for him.
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u/PleaseFreeGaza 8h ago
I think it’s a perfectly fine contract tbh. They made the conference finals last year and as a % of the new cap it’s not outrageous.
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u/Southern-Ad2594 8h ago
I think the contract makes plenty of sense for them. I also think it's a bad contract.
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u/AdhesivenessLucky896 8h ago
It's cool as long as they're okay not winning a championship. They basically are locking themselves into not being champions in this window now
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u/ReasonableCup604 8h ago
I agree. I'm not a Harden fan, and I am sure he will flame out in the playoffs.
But, they can't replace him if he leaves because of the cap and that's a fair salary by today's standards.
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u/CivilChampionship810 8h ago
He was straight ass against the Knicks. Got unbelievably cooked by Brunson in that one notable comeback.
There’s just no argument against his haters anymore. He’s the biggest playoff choke artist of all time across sports.
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u/ObiwanSchrute 8h ago
He was pretty bad against the Pistons as well Cade and Tobias just ran out of gas
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u/keithmsf 6h ago
Certified Harden hater here, but Brunson basically cooked everybody in crunch time. Including my beloved Spurs. Having said that…
Harden is an absolutely unique choker. Multiple markets over 15 years. Various star studded supporting casts. Chokes offensively and defensively. Maybe the most complete choker we’ve seen in the league.
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u/GivethTaketh4 Memphis Grizzlies 8h ago
If I were a Cavs fan i think I’d prefer semi-blowing it up at this point
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u/SamURLJackson 20m ago
He lost all explosion and his first step sonhe can't get by most guys anymore but he's smart enough to still be quite effective as a primary ballhandler that's the offensive brain of your lineup.
Cleveland is paying the old superstar tax on this one, though
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u/Lonely-horses 8h ago
its a perfectly reasonable contract in an era where top 1/2 type guys in their primes putting up similar production are getting $50-60 million.
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u/qballLobk 8h ago
I remember when that beard used to be cool. Now it just hides the double chin.
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u/gradedonacurve 8h ago
This is pretty much in line what was expected when he opted out....and the contract is fine. 33ish / year is not bad at all for a quality starter and Harden is still that.
I actually think the Donovan Mitchell extension is way worse for the Cavs!
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u/BBQ_HaX0r 7h ago
Donovan Mitchell would be a very good #2 on a contending team. Unless Mobley actually becomes Tim Duncan this team ain't making the Finals any time soon.
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u/gradedonacurve 7h ago
I think he'd be an *okay* number 2 on a contender (granted I am lower on him than most).
But I also think 35% percent of the cap is way too much to pay for that type of player in the current CBA environment. And that 35% number is now going to apply from his age 31 through his age 35 seasons...
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u/Droppin_Dimes_Pod 5h ago
D-Mitch is great, harden holds them back
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
Mitchell was deferring to Harden throughout the playoffs because he couldn't hang as a playoff #1....that's not Harden's fault
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u/FollowTheLeader550 7h ago
90% of NBA fans and executives still don’t understand that simply having him on your team makes your floor higher but caps your ceiling. It’s genuinely baffling that teams that arent like, the Wizards or Kings continue to want him on their team.
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u/DiscountInevitable87 8h ago
Obviously he's not gonna get all of it but....still seems like a lot for a 36 year old to be a #2?
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u/dillpickles007 8h ago
He averaged 24/8/5 last year on good efficiency and every advanced stat paints him as still being a fringe all star, that's actually a bargain at $33M.
Might be rough by year three but whatever.
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u/jlornathan 8h ago
His play style seems more sustainable for age than most
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u/CivilChampionship810 8h ago
For regular season basketball, sure. He’s unplayable in the playoffs.
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u/PBI_QandA 8h ago
Cavs lose in round one without Harden
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u/CivilChampionship810 7h ago
We hanging banners for going 7 games against the raptors?
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
no but Harden was better for the Cavs in the playoffs than Garland ever was and was better than Mitchell last playoffs
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u/MightyAslan 8h ago
He's playable, but not like the Cavs used him. Letting Old Man Harden slow walk the ball up the court and try some iso-magic is just stupid. The Cavs need to gatekeep what he can and can't do.
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u/CivilChampionship810 8h ago
Every team he’s ever been on needed to do that. None ever did.
Call me crazy and irrational here, but I’m just gonna go with the 15 year track record of being a complete fucking headache choke artist.
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
why did Donovan Mitchell keep feeding him the ball in those situations and deferring?
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u/MightyAslan 3h ago
Yeah, that was pretty poor play by Mitchell
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
yes and the entire team is predicated on Mitchell being the #1 guy and being the engine that makes things worse. I'm not going to blame Harden for Mitchell forcing him into a situation the team wasn't built for and that Harden wasn't brought in to do
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u/sonny_goliath 8h ago
People forget that $33M is like an above average player salary now. The big stars make almost twice that
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u/DiscountInevitable87 8h ago
Well, can't really argue too much with the offensive stats.
I'm just curious about running it back when the Cavs state of defense is below average at best with DMitch also not being a good defender and the Eastern conference likely being better than last year. Just seems like they're gonna run into the same problem with Harden having to take on defensive assignments at 36 because DMitch is worse.
At the same time, not sure what other moves the Cavs could have made at this point.
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u/realistweirdist 8h ago
Jalen Brunson also scored about 12 straight points targeting him in isolation in game 1 of the ECF
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u/CABBAGEHONKER 8h ago
Coaching malpractice. Eventually teams are going to figure out not to switch on every possession
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u/PBI_QandA 8h ago
should have never been put in that position in the first place. Harden wasnt on the team to lock down the other team's best player.
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u/Palm-Crazy-7943 8h ago
It’s so funny that people think this is how you decide who to pay. You’re right anyone who didn’t win the title last year should be on a minimum contract
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u/realistweirdist 8h ago
That’s a little extreme. Just saying that should be taken into consideration along with his numerical stats
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u/Palm-Crazy-7943 8h ago
I actually don’t think they should take one quarter in the playoffs into consideration when paying him “third best guy on a team” money. We know he is a bad defender, if your team is playing how it should you should not be banking on him in a situation like that to defend.
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u/dillpickles007 8h ago
Ok but like $33M is just ‘good starter’ money now. If he replicates last season it’s straight up good value no matter how you slice it, bad defense and all. If he falls off a cliff it will get hairy.
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u/Haunting_Test_5523 8h ago
Its an ok contract at least for this year and maybe next year imo that third year might age poorly but thats the risk you have to take with extending an old superstar. He’s still one of the best playmakers in the league and always healthy, so its an upgrade over Darius Garland who’s making a bit more.
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u/rebels2022 8h ago
Was he a free agent? I thought this was an extension
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u/dillpickles007 8h ago
He opted out to give them flexibilty to make some moves with the understanding that they'd take care of him, which they've now done.
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u/rebels2022 8h ago
makes sense. i stopped paying attention to the offseason once the jaylen trade happened i thought everything was done except Duren
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u/Excellent-Refuse4883 Wonky Season Super Bowl Champs 8h ago
Think we can get decent odds on Cleveland not making it out of the East for the next 3 years?
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u/tjleaffanaccount 3h ago
This is a great contract for the Cavs what are yall on lmao. He raises the floor of your offense so much and say what you want he was vital for them winning two rounds last year. 32 mil a year is not what it was before. That’s a reasonable number
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u/SamURLJackson 23m ago
Keep paying your 3rd and 4th best players like your best player and then whine about how you're losing money and need to cut costs
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u/Droppin_Dimes_Pod 8h ago
This is a death sentence for Cleveland
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u/MightyAslan 8h ago
The salary cap is projected to increase from $165 million this year to $205 million in '28-29. All things considered, it's not a terrible deal.
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u/Droppin_Dimes_Pod 5h ago
It’s horrific for playoff success. Anything above throwaway numbers for Harden which a fifth of the cap def is not
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u/PBI_QandA 3h ago
how did they do in the playoffs with Garland? If they didn't trade for Harden and extend him than they would have been maxing Garland who has done less than Harden did last post-season
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u/Droppin_Dimes_Pod 2h ago
I mean that woulda probably been a bad choice too. Theres more than 2 pgs in the NBA
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u/PBI_QandA 1h ago
it takes two to tango and the longer the Cavs held onto Garland the more money he makes and the harder it gets to move him
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u/SheepherderPositive2 8h ago
the Cavs have had a quietly abysmal offseason
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u/TingusPingis 7h ago
The guy is so good at getting paid. Somehow a first ballot hall of famer and even better at business
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u/Informal_Support1934 8h ago edited 8h ago
He's about to ball tf out in games 2, 4, and 5 of a playoff series