The Cleveland Cavaliers had a tense start to the summer.
They spent weeks waiting for LeBron James to make a decision, only for the King to choose Philly over returning home. This put Cleveland’s offseason on the brink of disaster. They needed a wing — and with the free agency pool drained, the Cavs had almost nothing to show for it.
James Harden not only paused his contract extension to allow them to keep searching, but also played an active role in recruiting their biggest splash of the summer, Peyton Watson.
“Getting a call or text from [Harden] throughout my process to let me know the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested,” said Watson during his introductory press conference.
” That matters a lot because obviously he has one of the great basketball minds we’ve ever seen. Being embraced by him immediately was something that was very flattering to me.”
Watson was one of the hottest sign-and-trade candidates on the market this summer. The 6’8″ wing had a career-best season shooting the ball and fit the mold of what the Cavs have been missing.
Meanwhile, Harden waited until September to sign an extension that he could have signed in July. This gave Cleveland the financial flexibility to go big game hunting.
More importantly, Harden used his reputation as one of the game’s greatest playmakers to reel in an organizational assist.
“I was super, super blessed to hear from him, and it made me more excited about what my role could be on the team,” said Watson. “It was early on when he had first talked to me… when I got that call and was informed that I was gonna be a Cleveland Cavalier, it just made it mean that much more to me because I knew I was being embraced day one by the team and front office. That just matters.”
Vibes matter. Enthusiasm is what leads to chemistry. Watson is excited about being in Cleveland and building a relationship with Harden. That’s some of the best news that you can hear leading into training camp.
Harden can’t pick up the phone and make the trade himself. But he did everything else in his power to facilitate this deal.
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