James Harden has all the NBA pedigree in the world with an MVP, 11 All-Star Game appearances, three scoring titles, and six All-NBA first team appearances.
Despite all of that success, he has operated as a journeyman during his career and has yet to win a championship. The 36-year-old star guard is hopeful that will change with his sixth team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, after the fifth trade of his career.
“I see an opportunity to win in the East,” Harden told ESPN on Tuesday night. “They got a very good team, coaching staff, all of the above. So as much as I wanted to stay in L.A. and give it a go, I’ve never won one before. As a basketball mind, I think we have a bit better chance.”
Harden’s previous team, the Los Angeles Clippers, traded him to the Cavaliers on Tuesday in exchange for guard Darius Garland and a second-round draft pick. Garland is a solid guard in his own right with two All-Star Game appearances in his young career.
“I wanted them to actually have a chance to rebuild and get some draft capital,” Harden said regarding the Clippers.
Harden averaged 25.4 points per game in 44 games for the Clippers this season, but the team had its struggles with a 23–26 record placing it in ninth place for the Western Conference standings. Cleveland, meanwhile, sits at fifth in the East with a 30–21 mark, a performance below what the team did last year with the top record in the conference.
“We had a hell of a two and a half years,” Harden said about his time with the Clippers. “We didn’t reach the goals that we all wanted to reach, but I think we built some great memories, wins, and fun moments for all of us.”
Los Angeles won 50 games or more with Harden his first two seasons with the team, but the Clippers never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Harden had a two-year, $81.5 million contract with the Clippers, and he had a player option coming up for 2026–2027.
“At the end of the day, it is a business, and I think both sides got what they wanted, are in a great place and are very happy,” Harden said. “I’m excited about Cleveland. I’m still trying to chase my first championship and do whatever it takes to win.”
Ironically, Harden’s only NBA Finals appearance came during his first career stop with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which drafted him in 2009 with the No. 3 pick out of Arizona State. Harden helped the Thunder reach the 2012 finals, and the team traded him that offseason to the Houston Rockets to avoid salary cap problems.
It didn’t pay off for Oklahoma City, which didn’t get back to the finals with the rest of the young core of the team at the time in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Harden became an MVP with the Rockets in 2018, and he averaged at least 30 points in his final three full seasons with the team before a trade to the Brooklyn Nets in the 2020–2021 season.
While Harden rejoined Durant and Kyrie Irving out east to form a big trio of stars, it never worked out due to injuries. The short-lived experiment led to another trade in 2022 when the Nets sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Harden joining forces with Joel Embiid couldn’t put the Sixers over the top in the East, as the team lost in the second round twice. Individually, Harden never averaged more than 21 points per game for the Sixers in a season.
Philadelphia traded him to the Clippers in 2023, but Harden’s return to his hometown didn’t produce the desired results. While Harden has been vocal about wanting to be traded before during his 17-year career, he said “that wasn’t the case at all” with the Clippers.
“In life, not even just basketball, when things don’t work out, there are ways to end things in relationships without having to crack each other,” Harden said. “‘OK, maybe we just don’t see a future with each other. Maybe we just outgrew each other.’ Whatever the case may be. I feel like our situations weren’t like that.”
