James Harden arrived to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a divisive figure.
As the centerpiece of a trade that sent fan favorite Darius Garland to the Clippers, Harden was always going to face an uphill battle.
Now, coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, all eyes are on Harden as he begins his second season with the team. After twelve games, one thing is clear: his performance will determine whether the Cavaliers can improve on last year.
The vibes around Harden hit a low point after Cleveland was walloped by the Charlotte Hornets, 124-112, on November 9.
He was at the center of the team’s problems. There were long stretches of minimal effort on defense, and he often looked like he was coasting, barely attempting to bring down rebounds.
Offensively, it was just as bleak: 11 points on 3-9 shooting with four turnovers. Safe to say, the fanbase was ready to drive Harden to the airport and send him to whatever team, or country, would take him.
Then came the Knicks game on November 11.
Suddenly, Harden was energized and putting his mark on the game.
He orchestrated a 115-107 road win at Madison Square Garden and put the offense on his back with 32 points, going 9-for-14 from the field with five threes and 9-11 at the free throw line.
Putting those two games back to back is as stark as it is telling of where the Cavaliers are. The team knew the risks and still entered the James Harden business.
This isn’t MVP Harden, and this isn’t the Houston Rockets of the 2010s, but the sentiment still stands: Cleveland is reliant on Harden to make the pieces on this roster gel. When he is at his worst, the ripples spread throughout the entire lineup.
The numbers show just how much his play matters, if not in the way Cleveland hoped. Through his first 11 games, the Cavaliers had a -5.6 net rating with Harden on the floor and a +15.7 net rating with him off it. Whatever his Knicks performance does to those numbers, it was a long way from enough to erase them.
Is this too much to ask of a 37-year-old? Yes. But the Cavaliers knew this was the route they were taking when they traded for Harden and then extended him on a three-year, $97 million deal. At times this season, it has looked like a grave mistake.
Harden is posting some of the lowest numbers of his career: 16.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. That scoring is about seven points below his 23.6 average last season, and about four below the 20.5 he averaged in 26 games after joining Cleveland. His assists are down more than two per game from last season’s 8.0.
Still, the Knicks game suggests the player fans expect isn’t gone. The problem for the Cavaliers is how to keep Harden engaged and empowered enough that performances like that don’t become few and far between.
It will be a balancing act. Cleveland has to meet Harden at a level of comfort that lets him use his best traits, while melding his heliocentric style with an offense that fits the rest of the roster and lets the ball move more freely. That will take time. The Cavaliers knew this came with Harden, and fans need to understand it won’t be pretty until a resolution is found on the court.