Why Cleveland Cavaliers Can’t Hesitate To Trust James Harden in NBA Playoffs

James Harden is heading back to the NBA Playoffs in his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. While his mixed success in the playoffs is often discussed, Harden has the experience and knowledge of what it takes to be successful in the postseason.

In Harden's career, he has been to the NBA Finals with Oklahoma City in 2012, four Conference Finals in his time with the Houston Rockets, was a Kevin Durant toe away from being in the Conference Finals with Brooklyn in 2021 as they lost to the eventual NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, and lost a 3-2 lead with the Philadelphia 76ers to the Boston Celtics who went on the win the Eastern Conference.

Harden also had two first round exits in his time during the Los Angeles Clippers.

Harden's playoff chapter in Cleveland

Now, as he returns to the playoffs with his new team, James has one goal in mind, that's to put his postseason ghosts behind him, and get the one trophy he is yet to hold in his Hall of Fame career, the Larry O'Brien trophy awarded every year to the NBA Champion, and Harden gives the vibe that he believes the Cavaliers can do just that, but with all his experience, he knows it won't be easy.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently sitting at 48-29 overall and in the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. With six remaining regular-season games, the Cavs' magic number to secure home court advantage in the first round stands at two, with matchups remaining against tanking squads like the Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards.

Easy to say, they're also in the driver's seat to wrap home court up very quickly as the season winds down.

This is a situation Harden is very familiar with, being the higher seed in many series he's played in including being the No. 1 overall seed in Houston that blew a 3-2 lead to the 2018 Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals as the Warriors went on to sweep the Cavs in the 2018 finals, LeBron James last games in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform.

Harden knows what it takes to go to battle in the playoffs with big stars. Harden has gone to the postseason as teammates with the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Joel Embiid, and Chris Paul, and now he has potential first-team all-NBA star Donovan Mitchell as a teammate. Mitchell is a player who is also looking to taste post-season success, as Mitchell is yet to get past the second round in his own career.

While Harden has played with great stars many times in his Playoff career, it's fair to wonder if he's ever played with this much depth on a roster.

Now, his teammates will look to him to lead the way, and that's a role Harden should feel comfortable with. Between his experince, his success and failures, and his accomplishments it is expected that James Harden will be the one the rest of the roster is looking to set the example of how to win.

He does have the benefit that he came to a team that was the top seed in the east last year, has teammates like Larry Nance Jr. who has played in a finals and players like Sam Merrill and Thomas Bryant who have been on teams that have won NBA Championships.

But, he is the only one on the team who is a former MVP, and has as much credibility of being the potential best player in a series. Now it's time to accomplish the one goal he is yet to do.