Why Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen Are Key to James Harden’s Success in Cleveland

The Cleveland Cavaliers have high hopes heading into 2026-27. Why shouldn’t they? They are fresh off of their first eastern conference finals appearances since 2018.

A large part of why they were able to finally breakthrough, past the 2nd round was due the acquisition of one James Harden.

The beard posted averages of 20.5 Points, 4.8 Rebounds, and 7.7 Assists, while completing roughly 46.6% of his field goal attempts, including a very efficient 43.5% from 3PT range, across 26 regular season appearances for the wine and Golders last year. He proved to be everything the Cavs needed and more for a midseason push towards the playoffs after an underwhelming start to the 2025-26 campaign.

His developing chemistry with the Cavs bigs was a major bright spot of the 2025-26 season. Especially in the case of Jarrett Allen, whom he helped elevate to a higher level in a short span of time. In just 13 shared appearances with one another, Harden managed to throw 29 total dimes to Allen on roughly 125 total passes.

The crazy thing is that Harden had twice the number of assists to Allen as the next closest player (Dennis Schröder: 14) post trade. I’d venture as far as to say that Harden was actually a huge contributing factor to Allen taking a statistical leap forward post deadline.

In 40 appearances prior to Harden’s first game, the big man posted averages of 13.9 Points and 8.1 Rebounds, on 60.5% from the field.

In 13 appearances on the court together afterwards, he averaged 18.4 Points, 9.5 Rebounds, and 70.5% from the field. He was more involved, he was more efficient, he was more effective and as a result the Cavs were a more well balanced team.

He also had an effect on Mobley, who averaged 18.1 Points, 9.5 Rebounds, and converted on 60.4% of his field goal attempts in 21 games alongside Harden. In the 42 games prior to that, he posted a stat-line of 17.9 Points, 8.8 Rebounds, and 4.0 Assists, while knocking down 51.2% of his attempts. Mobley got cleaner looks, was setup in spots where he was more comfortable, and was operating more effectively out of the PnR with Harden in the lineup.

None of this is to say that each big wasn't involved before Harden arrived but there was definitely more balance afterward. Mobley was involved early due to multiple factors (Garland injury primarily) prior to Harden’s addition. He averaged 68.2 touches per game, including 35.9 front court touches, 3.3 from the elbow, & 6.9 paint touches.

After Harden’s arrival, he averaged 58.5 touches per contest. 30.8 being front court touches, 3.6 from the elbow, and 9.0 being paint touches.

He had an even more significant impact on Allen who averaged just 37.0 touches per game prior to his arrival, including 25.1 front court touches, 4.1 from the elbow and 9.0 paint touches. Post Harden acquisition, Allen averaged 40.9 touches, which included 27.9 front court touches, 4.3 elbow touches and 10.1 from the painted area.

This leads me to my overarching point, if the Cavs are to operate at a higher level in 2026-27, Harden must continue to lean into his chemistry with the bigs. It often seemed that Cleveland was far more balanced when electing to play through their bigs more often.

The Cavs were 6-3 when Allen attempted at least 10 field goals after the Harden deal and were 11-6 when Mobley did so. Keep them involved.

There is perhaps no one else on this roster that can impact the balance on the court as much as Harden is capable of. The Arizona State product is uniquely suited to foster this type of environment as he has made a career out of elevating bigs throughout his 17 seasons of NBA hoops.

He did it with Clint Capela. He did with Ivica Zubac. He propped up Nic Claxton to a degree and even Joel Embiid benefitted from his on court presence for a short time.

There is a similar sentiment with Donovan Mitchell here as well. Both stars must lean on their bigs more.

And with Peyton Watson in town, they must be even more willing to share the rock.

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