Arya News - The 36-year-old Harden is averaging 25.4 points per game this season.
The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, ESPN"s Shams Charania reports .
Conjecture of a potential trade for Harden gained steam just ahead of Thursday"s NBA trade deadline , as Yahoo Sports" Kelly Iko reported late Monday evening the Clippers and Cavs were engaged in discussions surrounding the veteran All-Star. Now the two teams have swapped All-Star guards.
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The 36-year-old Harden is in the second year of a two-year, $81.5 million deal he signed last June when he declined his player option . Because of the structure of his contract, he could have declined any trade.
Harden does have a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27, but only $13 million of it is guaranteed. Per ESPN"s Bobby Marks , Harden will have to waive his one-year Bird restriction that functions as a no-trade clause in order to facilitate the trade.
Harden is in his 17th NBA season, and the Cavaliers will be his sixth team since he was drafted third overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009. He has spent the past three seasons with the Clippers, averaging 21.1 points, 8.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
This season, Harden has played 44 games and averaged 25.4 points per game, his highest since the 2019-20 season. Despite a strong case for his 12th All-Star selection this season, he was left off the roster.
In December, Harden entered the NBA"s top 10 all-time scoring list and is currently ninth .
What trade means for Cavaliers
The exchange of the two All-Stars offers a fresh start for both players and a reset for both teams as they seek to improve their standing in their respective conference playoff races.
Harden joins a Cavaliers team that entered Tuesday in fifth place in the East at 30-21. The Cavaliers are contenders in the East, but have taken a step back from last season"s 64-18 campaign that produced the best record in the conference.
Various injuries to Garland have played a role in Cleveland"s struggle to repeat last season"s success as he missed 25 of Cleveland"s first 51 games. Even when healthy, there were concerns in Cleveland that Garland"s skill set overlapped that of All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt.
The addition of a high-scoring playmaking guard in Harden doesn"t exactly alleviate those concerns. But the Cavaliers are certainly hoping the addition of Harden will propel them back into the conversation among championship contenders from an Eastern Conference that remains wide open. Harden and Donovan will combine to produce one of the most potent backcourts in basketball.
What trade means for Clippers
The Clippers, meanwhile, get a two-time All-Star point guard in Garland who, when healthy, could provide an ideal complement to All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard. Garland"s a strong scorer and distributor who averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists last season while shooting 40.1% from 3 en route to his second career All-Star selection.
A toe injury sidelined him during Cleveland"s run to the second round of the playoffs. It required offseason surgery and lingered into this season, and Garland has since sustained a toe injury on his opposite foot. He missed Cleveland"s previous nine games with the latest injury prior to Tuesday"s news of the trade. It"s not clear when he"ll be able to make his Clippers debut.
The Clippers got off to a 6-21 start, but have since recovered to a 23-26 record as of Tuesday to get back into the Western Conference playoff race. They"re hoping Garland can help propel them toward the postseason when he"s ready to return to the court.