Cavaliers Have a James Harden Problem They Can No Longer Ignore

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: James Harden has entered the season looking out of shape and disinterested, while everything around him bursts into flames. It’s been a horrific start to the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and more specifically, James Harden.

I don’t want to put all the blame on Harden; this iteration has been dealing with the same issues year after year for nearly all of the 2020s.

Kenny Atkinson doesn’t look like the guy to fix things at the helm, and his guys look directionless on both sides of the ball. Donovan Mitchell has regressed athletically, and doesn’t appear to be the right partner for Harden. The revolving door of mid-level wings keeps turning, as Peyton Watson has looked just as mediocre as his predecessors, Max Strus and De’Andre Hunter. Lastly, this team once again lacks front court depth, and Thomas Bryant looks completely outmatched in his bench minutes.

There are a ton of people to point fingers at, yet the most egregious issue still feels like Harden. He’s only scored 20 points once this season and hasn’t had double-digit assists in any game. Harden is also only shooting 36.4% from the field and 35.5% from three.

The Cavs starting lineup has a -17.9 net rating, the second-worst in basketball, but the other 4 starters have a 0 net rating when it’s just the four of them. Donovan Mitchell is also a +18.6 when Harden is off the floor, while Harden is a -13.7 when he’s without Mitchell. Essentially, the Cavs can still be an elite team with Mitchell on the floor, while Harden is obviously dragging them down.

Beyond the numbers, he’s failing the eye test even more. Teams constantly blitz Harden when he’s running the offense, and he can no longer handle it. He’s at his slowest physically, and also in terms of processing. Harden’s shooting just 37.7% at the rim this season and has been unable to finish through contact or consistently hit his floater.

However, the worst part about Harden is the effort. He’s never been a particularly enthusiastic defender, but it’s so much worse this year. You can put him in isolation and drive right past him, or put him in pick-and-roll actions where he neither sticks with his man nor switches well to the screener.

Cleveland has to make a change with Harden. He already seems disgruntled, so what’s the worst that could happen if he moves to the bench? Meleek Thomas clearly looks better suited to the starting lineup and brings far more energy on defense. Even if the Cavs could find a team to take Harden, they’re stuck with him until December 15th, when teams can trade free agent signings. Maybe another organization thinks it can get Harden to buy in, but for now, that seems impossible for Cleveland.