James Harden trade grades for Darius Garland swap with Cavs-Clippers

James Harden turned the 2026 NBA trade deadline on its head by requesting a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers just as the team started playing its best basketball of the year. Harden was reportedly seeking a two-year contract extension that the Clippers weren’t going to give him, and now he’s on the move to an Eastern Conference contender after the two sides came to a surprising agreement.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Harden for Darius Garland and a second-round pick. The news was first reported by Shams Charania.

The Cavs sit at 30-21 in the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference at the time of the trade. The Clippers sit at 23-26 in the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference on the day of the deal. The Cavs had already acquired Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis ahead of the trade deadline at the cost of De’Andre Hunter.

This is a fascinating trade. Let’s grade it for both sides.

Cavs grade for James Harden trade

The rule of thumb in sports is that you don’t true young for old. The Cavs broke that rule by acquiring the 36-year-old Harden for the 26-year-old Garland. The difference in this case is that the older player has actually been more durable.

Garland has had some bizarre injury issues in Cleveland including a broken jaw and a sprained toe. Garland’s toe injury significantly slowed him down in the 2025 NBA Playoffs and helped cause the Cavs’ second-round exit after a 64-win regular season. Garland never looked like himself this season after missing a bunch of games nursing the toe, and Cleveland obviously felt like it couldn’t count on him down the stretch.

Harden is having an awesome year, and was one of our top All-Star snubs. He’s averaging 25.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game on 60 percent true shooting so far this season. Harden is a fascinating fit with Mitchell, who had been spending more on-ball time this year. Harden remains just about the most on-ball heavy player in the league, and he’s never been much of a threat without the ball. This trade frees Mitchell to do more off-ball work which could be effective, but it will only be maximized if Harden can add some value when the ball isn’t in his hands.

Harden has a $42.3 million player option after this season. It seemed like that he would pick that up before this week, but now it might be a question after he yearned for a two-year, $80 million extension. Before the Cavs think about their future with Harden, they just need to get through this season. Harden is always a great regular season player, but he’s notoriously terrible (by his standards) in the playoffs. Cleveland felt like it couldn’t rely on Garland to be his best self physically, but does it really think it can count on Harden to produce when it really matters?

I just don’t get the Cavs’ logic for this trade. If they wanted to move off Garland, trading him for a haul of future assets was a smarter play than this. Of course, Cleveland wants to give itself a chance to make a run this year in a wide open Eastern Conference, and it didn’t think Garland was capable of helping them in that push.

Fading Garland makes sense because he just wasn’t reliable. Harden is reliable in the regular season, but he also famously struggles in the playoffs, he’s 10 years older, and he introduces a new super ball-dominant player into the mix. Maybe Cleveland isn’t done yet, but for now I’m not loving it.

Grade: C+

Clippers grade for Darius Garland trade

Garland is a two-time All-Star who beat the allegations that small guards can’t succeed in the modern NBA … at least until he started getting injured all the time. At his best, Garland offers a fantastic blend of speed and off-the-dribble shooting. He’s just about the smallest very good player in the NBA at 6’1, 190 pounds, and he’s never been known as a good defender.

Garland makes $42 million next season, and then $44.8 million in 2027-28. That’s a ton of money, and now it’s going to eat into the Clippers’ 2027 free agency plan. LA obviously thought Garland was better than anyone they were likely to land in free agency, but it’s still a huge price point if he can’t return to his All-Star form.

Garland made 40 percent of 11.1 three-point attempts per 100 possessions last year. This season that’s down to 36 percent on 9.8 attempts. His finishing has fallen from 65 percent at the rim last year to 60 percent this year. Most damning of all, his net-rating is -8.5 for his on-off swing.

If Garland’s toe can heal, he can give the Clippers a young point guard just entering his prime years who could help steer the franchise out of its Kawhi Leonard era. He just makes a ton of money and hasn’t been the same player this year. His lack of size gives him less room for error. He’s going to need to be super fast and a deadly shooter and playmaker to be effective. His turnover rate being way up this year (from 12 percent to 15 percent) isn’t a good sign, but maybe he’ll be able to take better care of the ball when he’s 100 percent physically.

It would have seemed impossible for the Clippers to get Garland for Harden at the start of this year. Do the Cavs know something the Clippers don’t? For now, I like this move for getting younger. It makes LA worse this year, but I never thought they were going anywhere in the West even with Harden.

Grade: B+