James Harden could be on the move before Thursday’s deadline, sources tell Sports Illustrated.
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I know most sports fans are preoccupied with the Super Bowl and the NBA trade deadline, but competition at the Winter Olympics beginsGiannis Antetokounmpo isn’t the only superstar who might be on the move before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
The Clippers “have had advanced discussions” with the Cavaliers on a trade that would send James Harden to Cleveland in return for Darius Garland,. The main hangup preventing the potential trade is the Cavaliers’ insistence that the Clippers also include draft picks, which Los Angeles has thus far rebuffed. It’s been a baffling season for the Clippers. They started 6–21 but have gone 17–5 since then to claw back to near .500. They’re currently in ninth place in the Western Conference at 23–26, 3.5 games ahead of the Grizzlies for the last spot in the play-in tournament. The Cavs, after finishing with the best record in the East last season, are currently in a tie for fourth place. A Harden trade would seem to be a future-oriented move for the Clippers, though. Los Angeles has made no secret of its plans to be a major player in the loaded 2027 free agent market, and moving on from Harden would help the Clippers solidify their plans. Harden has a player option for next season, but his $42.3 million salary can be cut to $13.3 million if the Clippers waive him by July 11. The list of potential free agents in 2027 includes Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Karl-Anthony Towns, Julius Randle, Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Herro and RJ Barrett, to name a few. Harden is 36 but is playing his best basketball in years. He’s averaging 25.4 points per game, his most since winning the scoring title in the 2019–20 season. Given how well he’s performing, it would make sense for him to seek a contract extension to fully guarantee his salary for next season. But if the Clippers remain committed to clearing as much cap space as possible before the 2027 offseason, you can understand why they’d want Harden off the books. Why acquire Garland, then? Well, a Harden-Garland swap is fairly simple to pull off. Their salaries this season are similar enough that a trade can be executed without including additional contracts. The complicating factor is that Garland remains under contract through the end of the 2027–28 season. He’s owed $42.2 million next season and $44.9 million the following year, fully guaranteed. That clashes with the Clippers’ goal of clearing the books for ’27, but acquiring the two-time All-Star isn’t totally illogical. Garland, who just turned 26 last week, is a decade younger than Harden and thus a better building block for whatever roster the Clippers hope to construct two summers from now. If they decide that his nearly $45 million salary in the final year of his contract might be better spent elsewhere, they could always offload him in exchange for some expiring contracts. While a Harden-Garland swap would be a prelude to bigger things for the Clippers, it would be a win-now move for the Cavs. This has been a disappointing season for Cleveland after last year’s excellent finish. Cleveland spent much of the season hovering around .500 before winning eight of its last 10. Even after that hot streak, though, the Cavs would not host a playoff series if the postseason began today. Injuries have limited Garland to 26 games this season and the Cavs’ offense—the best in the league last season—has suffered as a result. Adding Harden would give Cleveland an elite secondary scoring threat behind Mitchell and could vault the Cavs back into Eastern Conference contender status.about how his star turn at Super Bowl III helped make the NFL title game into what it is today.back-to-back three-pointersDan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion .
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