Cavaliers reveal plans for James Harden’s debut originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers kicked off the trade deadline festivities by making the first blockbuster deal involving Darius Garland and James Harden.
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This move comes days after the Cavaliers acquired two guards from the Sacramento Kings, adding Dennis Schroeder and Keon Ellis in exchange for Deandre Hunter.
Additionally, following the acquisition of Schroeder as a backup point guard, the Cavaliers traded Lonzo Ball to the Utah Jazz in order to get cap relief.
With Harden now on his way to Cleveland, the Cavaliers will get an experienced facilitator and one of the strongest scorers of all-time.
Despite being in his age 36 season, Harden averaged 25.4 points per game in 44 games for the Clippers, his highest points per game total since his last full season with the Houston Rockets in 2019-20.
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He continues to distribute the ball at a high-level as well, ranking third in the NBA with 8.1 assists per game, trailing only Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham.
With Cleveland having won six of their last seven games, Harden has been ruled out of Wednesday’s contest against his former team.
That said, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Harden plans to make his Cavaliers debut Saturday against the Sacramento Kings.
With eight wins in their last 10 games, the Cavaliers have jumped up into a tie for fourth in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Raptors.
They’ll hope that Harden and the rest of their recent acquisitions can continue put pressure on their rivals.
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