James Harden ☆

Availability

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This season

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• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Report · 28 h ago

  In the scrimmage, the gold team's starting lineup included James Harden, Evan Mobley and Peyton Watson. Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen (heard as "Jared Allen"; likely Jarrett Allen) were both on the wine team.

• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Analysis · 28 h ago

  The host says the Harden–Mobley pairing is the one the team will start the season with. In the scrimmage the two were on the same team.

• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Report · 28 h ago

  Harden played in two preseason games. He was very good in the first; in the second, against Orlando, the host thinks he went 3 of 12.

• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Open question · 28 h ago

  Open question: how often will Harden look for his own shot versus looking for Mobley?

• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Prediction · 28 h ago

  The host predicts Harden will be good for Mobley and make him a better screen-setter. His reasoning is that Harden's slower pick-and-roll operation differs from Donovan Mitchell's and Darius Garland's and should get Mobley easy baskets and free runs to the rim. He says this was on display in the scrimmage.

• Podcast NBA GM survey (reported), via Locked On Cavs · Relayed report · Oct 16

  No other Cavs got votes as best at their position: not James Harden at point guard, Peyton Watson at small forward, Evan Mobley at power forward, or Allen (heard as "Jared Allen"; likely Jarrett Allen) at center.

• Podcast Danny Cunningham, Locked On Cavs · Report · Oct 15

  On Tuesday night Mobley and James Harden ran a nice pick-and-roll. Danny believes it came out of a timeout. Mobley missed the contested layup.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs · Analysis · Oct 15

  Mike Lucas thinks Mitchell and Harden hold up very well when switched onto bigger players, and the Cavs might exploit this through switching or deliberately baiting mismatches. He adds Tyson, Hezonja and Tomlin as hard to move.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 14

  The starting lineup included Evan Mobley (2 of 6 from three), Peyton Watson (1 of 5), Mitchell (heard as "Donald Mitchell", likely Donovan Mitchell; 1 of 5) and James Harden (1 of 5). The fifth starter is not named. The starters went 5 of 21 from three combined, counting all their minutes.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 14

  In the finale, Kenny Atkinson had Peyton Watson guard Bane (heard as "Desmond Bain"), who shot 3 of 12 and 2 of 9 from three. James Harden guarded Franz Wagner, who shot 7 of 10.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Prediction · Oct 14

  Host prediction: playing with James Harden, Mobley will get perhaps the best looks of his career and needs to capitalize on them better.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Prediction · Oct 13

  The host expects the starting five to be James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley and Allen (heard as "Jared Allen"; likely Jarrett Allen). He says 'I think it's fair to say we know' and 'I believe that's what the starting five will be.'

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 13

  That same five started the Sunday night preseason game against Orlando.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 13

  Harden did not play in the first preseason game. Tyson (likely Jaylon Tyson) started in his place, Hezonja (likely Mario Hezonja) and Merrill were the first two off the bench, and Thomas (likely Meleek Thomas) was the eighth to check in.

• Podcast Kenny Atkinson (reported), via Locked On Cavs · Relayed report · Oct 13

  The host believes the plan is for everybody, Harden included, to play in Tuesday's preseason finale, and says Atkinson said so on Sunday.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 13

  The host says the Cavs acquired James Harden in February.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Analysis · Oct 12

  In the host's view, Harden does not look like a player headed for a drastic drop-off this season, though he cautions against treating one preseason game as gospel.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Analysis · Oct 12

  The host says the Cavs need Harden to be willing to take catch-and-shoot shots. He believes Harden shot about 43-44% on those looks after Cleveland acquired him last season. He argues that this role makes more sense because three of the other starters (Mitchell, Mobley, Watson) can make plays for others.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 12

  Change from past usage: against Orlando, Harden and Mobley played as a duo, and Mitchell and Allen (heard as "Jared Allen") played as a duo. By the end of last season, Mitchell had been paired with Mobley and Harden with Allen.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Report · Oct 12

  Harden and Mobley played about 10 minutes without Mitchell and Allen and outscored Orlando by 6, with a 104.3 offensive rating and an 85.7 defensive rating.

• Podcast Locked On Cavs host · Opinion · Oct 12

  The host has advocated for the new pairings. He thinks Harden is the better partner for Mobley right now and that Allen's better screen-setting could help get Mitchell going. He does not know whether the Cavs will stick with it and will watch Thursday's third preseason game.

Podcast items are our short summaries of what was said, credited to who said it; posts link to the original. Opinions and rumors are labelled as such and are not checked facts.

Game log