Marc Spears on James Harden and the Cavaliers: “And to James’ credit, they’re saying that he’s been patient his people has been patient, and I hear that they expect aresolution to come soon for him to re-sign”
Harden gets all the blame for the playoffs but Mitchell really doesn’t get much criticisms
been like that for years and it’s cause nobody really views him as a top tier guy like they used to with harden
Harden also had a very well documented history of choking when it matters most.
Why is this being downvoted? Lmao
There’s some kind of harden stan brigate. Their thinking is harden got hard blocked by GSW in his absolute prime and that rockets loss against KD warriors shouldn’t count as a choke.
But they conveniently forget how harden historical shrinks in every other elimination game (elimination for his team). And also somehow if he plays well for 2 games in the series it’s ok to choke the rest, because his team is playing like shit anyway?!
I guess I somewhat agree that harden shouldn’t be held to the same standard as curry and lebron and Shai and even KD. So harden is squarely on the same tier as Donavan Mitchell who even performs better than harden (look up the elimination game that just happened).
Mitchell has one or two of those “can’t blame me” games where he chucks and farms points while losing.
Nba fans are so PPG and PRA brained that they eat that shit up and give him a pass every time
The best position in the nba is being a max player that nobody cares about like mitchell. You build a good statistical resume and avoid all blame bc you’re not an interesting player
He’s gonna have a legacy of someone like Clyde Drexler if he didn’t go win a ring with Hakeem (or, D Mitch will also go get a ring as a 2nd option and just be Clyde 2)
Harden isn’t in his prime anymore or even the best paid player on the Cavs yet still gets the most criticism like he’s the franchise superstar when he’s the 3rd option on that team
No one expects Mitchell to do much, 5 game CF loss is about what you’d expect out of him at his peak as “the guy”
Harden deserves every bit of blame he gets.
Yeah I watched dude get relentlessly hunted
Mitchell got more criticism than harden this time around lol
No the hell he didn’t. We could go post for post around that time and Harden was still getting all the criticism even though they fucking sucked whenever he sat.
Making fun of James Harden is definitely beating a dead horse
But the thing about it is that everytime you kick the horse, it makes funny noises that make you wanna keep doing it
He absolutely did not this year
Highly doubt they’d burn him. Despite his faults, he did help us get to the ECF after 7 seasons of disappointment. Hopefully we actually get a defensive wing to help out when he gets targeted on defense.
They aren’t run by Daryl Morey who is a liar that he will never work with again
Daryl Morey who is a liar
Let me repeat that
It was hard to watch when they started targeting him
Oh no doubt. No team will win with Harden playing a key part.
i think your 2024-2025 team would have gotten to the ecf this year. imo james harden didnt necessarily take you over the top, i mean you guys barely got to the ecf. he was just the player you decided to trade for when your team was due to make it anyway had you fully ran it back and stayed healthy.
That 2024-2025 team (Ty Jerome + Garland) would have made us struggle even harder on offense against the Pistons, and Garland’s availability would have plummeted later in the 1st round or during the second, since he picked up a new injury last season and now had recurring issues with both feet (he said something in an interview about how he feels like he has to move on 9 toes now for the latest injury).
With a #2 on the bench for multiple Pistons games and the wildcard of Ty Jerome going 1 - 14 and then 1 - 8 the next game while missing wide-open passes at the perimeter, we would have been SOL in the 2nd round again.
I think you’re underestimating how much garland would have been hunted vs Toronto or Detroit
He was the best player in the first round thats gotta mean something at least
Exactly. Saying they made the ECF sounds good in a vacuum but anyone watching those games knew the team wasn’t a legitimate contender.
He’s in such a weird spot in his career. It’s clear he’s not the championship caliber player, but he’s still pretty good. Still can create his own shot, and is an amazing playmaker. Not a great defender and is known to have terrible meltdowns. For a team like Cleveland who are in a really weird spot with the new Mitchell contract and Allen and Mobley’s future Harden is another awkward addition. I don’t think there’s a team who had a Conference Finals run that wasn’t expected to happen that’s came out the other side probably worse off.
Memes aside, that series probably should have been 6 games but ended up being 4 games because the Cavs couldn’t recover from game 1. Its the same thing that happened in the 2018 finals.
a similar thing happened in game 1 of the 2018 eastern semifinals. and game 2. and game 3. and game 4. god that raptors series was brutal.
Harden is not a dawg. He can be broken mentally
He can be a championship player depending on his salary.
They meant as a 1a
It’s not weird man, it’s how normal players do when they get old. Give it another year and he’s no longer starting caliber, then no one will sign him to anything like Westbrook right now.
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You are under a post where the context is him *stalling a re-signing to widen his team’s options
Ah my fault
It’s cool, he shouldve taken the money
It’s weird because he’s still really good in the regular season, but as always his play just seems to drop off in the playoffs.
He gets too much unfair hate. Everyone blaming him for last postseason when Mitchell showed up in 2 games total
Harden is the reason they even advanced to the ECF, saving the team multiple times in round 1 and 2
While I agree with your statement it was painfull to watch Harden get targeted on defense every single play. Knicks destroyed Harden, every possesion going at Harden. He cant defend anymore(even though he was never a defender), doesnt have the energy to play that tempo anymore, gets targeted on defense. It felt like playing 2k just go at Harden and thats it.
Now Im not saying it was his fault they lost but because he is a liability on defense, the coach couldnt find a way to stop those attack on him nor did he make any meaningfull changes to stop the bleeding.
Almost like being the historically worst MVP level player in NBA playoff history and arguably sports history hurts you.
Same way players like Brunson and Leonard have their legacies go up higher for being the guy when in times when their teams needed them to get a franchise changing ring goes the opposite way.
Feels like a new generation of fans don’t get this and believe you can Basketball Reference your way out of it. No one has more high profile failures and it will haunt him. Mitchell’s games don’t change Harden’s scenario and how he’s viewed.
This is not basketball referencing its just disagreeing with the discussion thats nothing more than narratives and never how he actually played lmao
I feel like this was a weird year and losing to the Knicks who then won it all doesn’t help. I would’ve enjoyed seeing our bigs against Wemby.
Our overall issue is that our top four players go through stretches of play and sometimes a few games in a row where they just disappear and show they are not reliable. We talked it up to lack of play off experience but you can’t really say that anymore.
This is one of the few times where I would be fine with the GM blowing up the team while they can still get lots of pics for Mitchell, Mobley, Allen, and Harden… I think if we don’t look spectacular by All-Star break then we really need to shop everyone around and have a 5 year plan.
Cavs fans I hope you are mentally prepared to be a play in team :/
As long as Mitchell’s still in his prime, I don’t think his pride will let him be a Play-In contender lol. Especially in the East. He’s managed to place 1 ~ 6 in both conferences since he stepped in the league, so at the worst, we’d be 6th with 76ers getting better, Celtics still remaining a Top 4 team, and the Heat if they make more moves to build around Giannis/Bam rather than settling with their current roster.
The sooner you get rid of Harden the better off you’ll be.
It’s looking like the Cavs are pondering if this is a great time to get let Harden walk. He’s not a priority for them. They prioritize cap flexibility. They want him back sure, but at a low cost.
Their franchise isn’t going anywhere without him anyway might as well give him the money he wants on a short term deal
They pay big money to player who can deliver in the big moments. He clearly hasn’t been able to do that.
Like Donovan Mitchell who also didnt?
I hope he gets a 3 year 105 million extension to make the Cavs firsts more valuable in 2028, and 2029 since he’d be on an overpay when Mitchell’s new extension kicks in, and Mobley being on his DPOY Rookie max, so the Cavs will be in second apron hell making them have to make their team worse to get off contracts
Your a Jazz fan, how about you focus on your team not being one of the worst teams in the league next year 🤣🤣
They certainly will try to make the playoffs this time because they can’t tank, as they gave the rights to their 2027 first in the Jaren trade
I’m sure you do lol
Sorry to disappoint but the fact we have Mitchell, Allen and Mobley, Tyson soon locked up for the next 4-5 years means our floor is a playoff team through 2030. The likelihood of a lottery pick being conveyed to you guys is slim. Have fun drafting in the 20s.
I think he’s going to fall off big time and Schroder will be better wherever he ends up
Why again is he getting an anything above an MLE? He sucked in the playoffs and was the main reason those series went 7 and weren’t Cleveland victories in 5
LMFAO fucking banger of a classic r/NBA take right here
L ragebait
I’m a Cavs fan I want him OFF my team.
Well, he declined a $42m player option. Usually the player has some kind of an understanding with the front office when that happens.
I know, it doesn’t mean the team has to hold up their end of the bargain. Harden doesn’t have an agent so they have no risk of pissing off future clients. They agreed to this at the trade deadline, he sucked in the playoffs again, and now the circumstances are different.
Somebody didn’t watch the playoffs
You need to shut up before showing too much of your ignorance.