INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kenny Atkinson knows his life is going to be very different with James Harden in Cleveland.
“I’ll probably call less plays,” the Cavaliers coach joked.
Atkinson and star Donovan Mitchell — not to mention Cavaliers fans and everyone else invested in the team — were frustrated with how last playoffs ended: A second-round exit, winning just one game from the Pacers after a 64-win regular season. They were frustrated with how this season started — 17-15 on Christmas Day and sitting in the play-in — and, on the basketball operations side, felt they needed to shake things up.
Mitchell used his leverage as the team’s star who could be a free agent in 2027 to push for a roster upgrade at the deadline, league sources confirmed to NBC Sports, but their front office was already thinking that way.
One key issue throughout it all had been point guard Darius Garland, who sparked the offense last regular season but whose toe issues slowed him in the playoffs and those carried over into this season despite surgery (he’s now dealing with issues in both feet).
All of that led to the Cavaliers trading Garland to the Clippers for James Harden.
“We’re excited,” Atkinson said. “We’re excited to have James, he gives us a different dimension, obviously different type of player. But his resume speaks for itself.”
“I think our ceiling is definitely higher when you have a guy like James Harden,” Mitchell said. “When you look at it, you know what he brings, but with that there’s definitely a higher expectation. Understanding that this is what we gotta do. For us, this is a part of it. We weren’t able to get it done for the last three years now we gotta try and get it done now…
“It’s not gonna always be pretty. You make a move at the deadline, there’s gonna be bumps in the road, but for us this is the time.”
Those bumps in the road are all about style of play.
Cleveland’s offensive adjustments
The adjustments are going to be real and start Saturday in Sacramento, when Harden is expected to make his Cleveland debut.
For example, Harden plays much slower than Cleveland prefers — the Cavaliers are top-10 in the league in percentage of offense started in transition, while the Clippers are dead last (stats via Cleaning the Glass). Atkinson trusts they can work this out.
“Great players fit together, usually. It’s rare that it doesn’t work,” Atkinson said. “So now, like I said, it’s, it’s up to us as coaches, collaborating with Donovan and James on what that looks [like].
“How that looks? How do the rotations look? How do we stagger them? How do we play when each is alone in the court? How do we play when they’re together? That’s all things to be to figure out. But usually, when you have such talented players — and really, I can’t emphasize this enough, high IQ players — it makes it a heck of a lot easier for the coaching staff to figure out.”
Harden has attacked far more in isolation this season than any other player in the league and scores at an impressive 1.11 points per possession on those. Cleveland runs a lot of pick-and-rolls with its mobile big men — Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley — and Harden has thrived in that role as well, finding big men on duck-ins or rolling off dribble hand-offs. Atkinson said he reached out to Mike D’Antoni, who coached Harden in Houston, to discuss the best way to maximize Harden’s skill set.
Mobley and Allen should thrive playing with Harden — Joel Embiid won his MVP when Harden was feeding him in Philadelphia, and more recently Ivica Zubac had his best years in Los Angeles with Harden at the point.
“When you watch his film, what really stands out is the passing,” Atkinson said. “Everybody talks about ISO and pick-and-roll, but he’s a great, great passer, and I can’t wait to see how he interacts with our two talented bigs.”
What Atkinson said he trusts most is that both Harden and Mitchell understand the game and want desperately to win. Atkinson believes the Cavaliers just became a much more dangerous playoff team.
“The number one thing that stands out is his IQ, his feel for the game,” Atkinson said. “We’re “big believers that IQ translates to playoff success. I’d say another thing certainly you have to add into this he’s got great size for a point guard (6’5”).
“Great size, makes others better. and obviously can score the ball when you need it. So kind of all those things I’m saying are stuff that translates to the playoffs.”
Harden has had some brilliant playoff games, but also more than his share of duds in clutch moments. Cleveland is banking on its defense and Mitchell being able to handle any of those off nights and keep the team winning.
The East may be wide open but it’s also no cake walk — New York is a very good team, Detroit has an elite defense and Cade Cunningham pushing them to the top of the conference, and Boston is a threat whether or not Jayson Tatum returns.
Cleveland believes with this trade, it is in that mix — and can be the best of them. Now the work starts to work out the style issues and prove that vision right.
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