Former Philadelphia 76ers point guard James Harden finds himself on the move again after yet another reported trade demand—his fourth of this decade. He is now returning to the East and joining forces with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley in Cleveland, hoping that his playmaking ability is what catapults the Cavs into the championship hunt.
The official trade sees Harden going from the Los Angeles Clippers to Cleveland for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
The Cavs have rebounded from a mediocre start to put themselves right back in the thick of things in the East. They currently sit at fourth in the conference and are 14-6 in their last 20 games following last night's win over, oddly enough, the Clippers. (Neither Harden nor Garland suited up for the immediate game against their former squad.)
The Cavs also acquired Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis from the Sacramento Kings to fill specific needs within their rotation. They have as much talent on paper as any team in the East and are now primed to make a run at the NBA Finals, which would be their first since LeBron James was leading the team.
Credit to the Cavs for their shrewd operation. There was no more time to waste on pushing the chips to the center of the table, and at least for this season, James Harden makes the Cavs better. Cleveland already posed a matchup problem for the Sixers before the trade, and now the test gets even tougher as James Harden raises both the floor and ceiling of what the Cavs offense can be.
Cleveland and Philadelphia have been neck-and-neck in the standings all season long. With the playoff picture beginning to shape, chances are they will be battling each other for positioning down the stretch as well, and could even find themselves matching up in the first round of the playoffs. The Cavs hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, having already beaten the Sixers three times this year, with just one meeting remaining.
Before any of these trades occurred, the Cavs won consecutive road games in Philadelphia just last month. The overarching theme of those games was Tyrese Maxey's struggles. He scored just 36 points combined across both games on a putrid 14/39 from the field. If Maxey has one Kryptonite, it's long, tall, space-eating help defenders. The scary thing about the Cavs is they have two of those guys, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, so Maxey really has no strong-side advantage in either direction.
The individual challenge for Maxey is only going to be made tougher by the additions of Schröder and Ellis (whose middle name is Tyrese). Ellis is one of the better lockdown guys in the league, and Schröder is a good on-ball defender in his own right. It will be a tall task to ask Maxey to defend one of James Harden or Donovan Mitchell, then figure out how to attack Schröder and Ellis once they hit the bench.
Maxey has already shown signs of slowing down a bit from the pace he was pushing to begin the season. Another two and a half months left in the regular season before a potential playoff series versus this Cavs roster that is basically lab-designed to make him work every inch of the basketball court is going to be a true test of his mettle.
One thing the Sixers have working in their favor for this matchup offensively is Kelly Oubre, who was still finding his groove during those two games against the Cavs in January after returning from a lengthy stint on the injured list. Oubre, who came off the bench in those games, has recently been reinserted into the starting lineup in place of Dominick Barlow, which is an important chess piece against Cleveland's two-big starting lineup.
With Oubre in the lineup instead of Barlow, that would force Cleveland's Evan Mobley to the perimeter because everyone is a shooting threat. Keeping Embiid isolated on Allen from the post to the basket and allowing Maxey more one-on-one opportunities to the rim would be the Sixers' best chance at sustained offense.
However, one area where starting Oubre over Barlow makes a weakness even more glaring is on the boards. Allen and Mobley will be able to dominate the glass, given Embiid's diminishing state as a physical rebounding presence. The Sixers will have to execute at a high level in the half-court and make the most of their transition opportunities to offset what should be a sizable advantage for Cleveland in second-chance opportunities.
On the other side of the ball is where the mismatches become more pronounced. The addition of James Harden is an all-in bet on unlocking the potential of Evan Mobley. With the ball in Harden's hands, Mobley will have the opportunity to feast in pick-and-roll, on baseline cuts, and from the dunker spot, depending on how Harden is manipulating the opposing defense. That in itself is not going to be easy with the Sixers giving up size.
Then you add in Donovan Mitchell, who is still the best player on the Cavaliers. Mitchell is an electric shot-maker and athlete with the ball in his hands, so it will be interesting to see how he is used off-ball when Harden is on the floor. But taking some of that pressure off of Mitchell's shoulders is a good thing, and Harden has proven he can make it work with other ball-dominant guards such as Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, and Tyrese Maxey.
VJ Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre are the only guys in the starting lineup with the youth, speed, and strength to take on Mitchell over the course of a playoff series. Paul George has been the Sixers' best perimeter defender, but with his athleticism waning, Mitchell would get the better of him pretty frequently.
The best course of action would probably to be to just throw the rookie right into the fire and have him face-up Donovan Mitchell every second they are on the floor together. That would allow Oubre and George to focus on Mobley, knowing they have Embiid by the basket to show an extra body because Jarrett Allen is not a threat to stretch him out.
The other of Oubre or George can guard Max Strus when he returns, or Jaylon Tyson, who torched the Sixers for 39 points in one of those January games, three more points than Tyrese Maxey scored in the two games combined. If they have to, they can take on the Harden assignment as well.
Tyrese Maxey went up against James Harden every day in practice for over a year. He knows what Harden likes to do, and more importantly, what he does not like to do. If he can stifle him enough, the rest of the Sixers defense will fall into place. If he struggles, the Sixers will have to shapeshift.
As mentioned previously, George or Oubre would be the logical next choice, so Edgecombe can stay attached to Mitchell. That would mean Maxey would be giving up even more size against Strus or Tyson, but neither is a threat to attack him off the dribble consistently, which could benefit Maxey in the long run. Being able to play the passing lanes and just make sure to get a hand in a shooter's face may be the best way for him to find pockets of rest while on the court.
Edgecombe could also take on Harden. That would leave Oubre to cover Mitchell, which is a challenge he would gladly accept. Oubre played admirable defense against Jalen Brunson in the 2024 playoffs, but Mitchell represents a different challenge than the slower and more methodical Brunson. The Sixers have options; the Cavs just may have more.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' acquisition of James Harden, Keon Ellis, and Dennis Schröder makes them arguably the toughest matchup in the conference for the Sixers. They now have more ways to attack the Sixers defense and have more answers to contain the Sixers offense. In what is a very likely first-round playoff matchup, the Sixers are going to need Nick Nurse to dive into his old bag of tricks to help the team prevail.
We saw him deploy a box-and-one defense against Steph Curry in the 2019 NBA Finals. Could we see a triangle-and-two defense come out to deny Harden and Mitchell?
