Can James Harden Lure LeBron To Cleveland?

All right, so let's talk about two of those teams that are gonna be competing with the Celtics in the playoffs.

Let's start with Cleveland, which made a big swing before the trade deadline, acquiring James Harden, giving up Darius Garland, breaking up their core four, which they believed in for, for a lot of years .

That was a, a tough decision for the Cavaliers to make, but they have a lot on the line, you know, not just this season, but going into the future.

Donovan Mitchell's extension eligible this summer.

They want to give Donovan Mitchell a reason to want to re-sign with the Cavaliers .

So they have invested a lot in James Harden.

Evan, I feel like I've heard this song before.

Like teams making James Harden the missing piece.

It happened in Brooklyn.

It didn't work.

It happened in Philly.

It didn't work.

It happened in LA and it didn't work.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

But the Cavs clearly believe that Harden can be their, their, their path to the finals.

What do you think of this?

What did you think of this deal?

You know, he's played a couple of games for them already.

Uh, do you think that James Harden makes the Cavs measurably better?

Uh On a, on a nightly basis, sure, not in a playoff situation.

I, I really didn't understand, I suppose, why they did this trade .

Even just long-term, James is 37 years old, so like to try to sign him to hope he stays, I mean, I'm not dissing his longevity, but at the same time that this doesn't tilt the scale in any situation.

So I'm not really a big fan of it.

Um, I love, I love, obviously a great guard backcourt, but I just don't see where they would stop.

I don't see, uh, you know, obviously, when it comes down to big playoff moments, I don't think either one of them.

Obviously, Donovan has had big moments, but James hasn't been proven in that sense, and he's never been in a championship caliber form.

And, uh, that's it.

Like if, if, if he couldn't get it done with those teams he had with the Clippers, I don't see, I don't see how else you're gonna do it in Cleveland.

Yeah, I, I think this was a move based on desperation.

Um, I don't think they do this deal if Darius Garland is 100% healthy, but he missed the 1st 6 games of the season with that toe injury.

He has been out with another toe injury on another foot, still out of the lineup now that he's with the Clippers who, that's a real injury.

Like the Clippers have no reason to tank.

Their pick goes to the, the Thunder.

So that's a real injury Darius Garland is battling through.

And look, I, I think they understand the situation that they're in.

If Donovan Mitchell doesn't sign an extension, then that's the, that has the same force of a trade demand.

They're gonna have to trade him.

And get something back in return and that's gonna put them into, you know, kind of a mid-tier rebuilding phase, you know, if they keep Evan Mobley, uh, around.

Um, so I, I get why they did it.

Harden for all his warts is a durable guy in the regular season.

He has been a workhorse for the Clippers.

He's gonna give you 35, 36 minutes per game, gobble up minutes , score you a lot of points, be a playmaker.

And again, uh, well, not again, but like Harden.

He makes centers better, right?

Like Joel Embiid won the MVP with James Harden.

Ivia Zube had his best year of his career last year with James Harden.

Like Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are going to benefit from playing with James Harden.

He's gonna get them easy looks and make them better, but it comes down.

To postseason play and that's where James Harden has laid more eggs than he's had great games.

It's a reality.

It's just, I mean, statistical reality, right?

Like, you know, that that series against possible like, yeah, like, like, like, but.

Not even a reality.

Certain nights, he just didn't even try.

Like, it literally was just like, hey, you, you know, there's like another half of basketball to play, and like, there was no There was no hard and.

I just, I, I think we have these conversations like, The experts and also the people in the front office know, they know the end, end goal, hopefully the second round and call it a day.

There's no, there's no part of this that says championship, like you just said, it's to stop the bleeding, put a band-aid over it, but when we sit still, it's, it's, it's, it's spilled toast.

Your time to win it was possibly last year where, where you shit the bed and, and help, help Disney work on, produce a new movie, like, you know what I'm saying, like about the Indiana Pacers.

So.

Yeah, um, I, yeah, look, I, I think if If Harden is right, they're gonna climb the standings over the next few weeks and months.

Maybe they can bump up a spot or two in the playoff bracket.

But, and look, I do think, you know, Harden's not a great defensive player, but he's got more size than Darius Garland.

I think that could help them on the defensive end.

And look, he's gonna look a lot better defensively when you got Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen backstop and you, you know, that when you always got.

When you got centers like that, two centers that are playing heavy minutes, you're, you're gonna look a lot better on the defensive end.

But can he, can he break his own mold?

Can he summon, you know, playoff success?

I just haven't seen it from James Harden and I don't know why at 36, 37 years old, you're, you're gonna get it from him, uh, this time around.

On the subject of Cleveland.

They're consistently mentioned as a LeBron James candidate.

This Harden deal is kind of lumped into that discussion, right?

Like you get James Harden, a veteran player.

We know LeBron loves veterans, loves veterans everywhere he goes.

He wants to bring in veterans, helps to, or at least pushes for some trades that makes some, bring some veterans, brought them to Miami, got some deals done in Cleveland, got Kevin Love out there, the Lakers, Anthony Davis, like he, he loves his veteran guys.

So now the Cavs.

Uh, in their backcourt at least, have a veteran laden team.

We know the Lakers, I, I think they'd be interested in bringing LeBron back at the right salary.

Golden State, LeBron stays in California, maybe reunites with, or unites, I should say, reunites with the Olympic team, but he unites with Steph Curry for one more run.

When you look at the landscape, I mean, LeBron , the reality is he's not getting $50 million in his next contract.

Like, it's just not gonna happen.

Um, he's probably looking at 20 million or maybe a little bit less.

It's, it's just the financial reality of today's NBA with free agents, unless you wanna go to like Brooklyn.

Um.

Is there, in your mind, like, what is the ideal landing spot for LeBron James?

If this truly is the final chapter in his career coming up, and look at the press conference he had on uh at All-Star Weekend, All-Star Sunday.

He did not give any hints about his future, but that in and of itself is revealing because There's no way LeBron walks off into the sunset like Dirk Nowitzki, where he doesn't say anything all season long.

Like he is, and look , I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, but he is going to get the full retirement tour.

There's gonna be a documentary done about it.

He's gonna make.

Millions of dollars off it, like there is going to be a retirement season.

So him not saying anything at All-Star Weekend tells me he's coming back.

If he comes back, if he does one more year, what's the best fit?

Where's the best place for LeBron to go to finish out his career?

I think he, he should be, uh, he has to be efficient and impactful towards his legacy.

So wherever he goes next, I feel for sure has to be like a championship contender.

Not one of those things where it's like, yo, the, the typical conversation around LeBron, like, hey, one more trade and we're good.

One more trade, we're gonna have to deal with personnel.

So, I'd love to see what him and Steph Curry could possibly do, but that's still a situation where you might need one more trader to get rid of a guy.

But I'm gonna cut it plain and simple, big dog.

You're saying his salary is around 14 or somewhere under 20?

My man Brad Stevens likes that.

Send him to Boston, let him be the foreman and they call it that.

Like, I, I like, cause I'm, because I'm being so serious about being efficient and impactful.

This is towards his legacy.

If he wants to do a, a send-off farewell tour.

I think he would have been on that type of time, but I think his energy has been saying like, yo, I, I don't want to come out of the game.

I still think I can still play at a high, high level, and I still want to win a championship.

And I think in that sense, it's like, hey, you like vets, you like to load a team up, you like, A decent, you know, a decent coach.

I, I, I like Boston or I like if New York seems like they make sense.

You go back to New York and you bring a championship to New York.

That's something that will impact his legacy at a high, high level.

But I'm not wasting time on that Cleveland.

I, I'm talking about The one or two teams that can actually win, if, if that's what he really wants to be about.

If not, go back to Cleveland, man.

Stay in that 20,000 square foot house.

I know you can't sell and do, and, and, and, and, and let it, and, and, and let the economy get back to cracking.

Like, you know what I mean?

Every time LeBron comes back, it, it, it's new, it's new books, it's new street lights, you know what I mean?

They build a bridge, like, get it going.

So that's, that's what I want.

But Boston, LeBron.

You know, I, I, I know the Bostonians will, will put the differences aside and be like, you know what, man?

It works, but if, if it's anything under 20 million, Brad's coming to get that ass straight up.

The 20,000 square foot house.

I know you can't sell the real estate in Akron, not, not a huge market for the 20,000 square foot home.

I'm stunned by that.

Um, you're, so you're saying, so, so you're saying that.

You want LeBron James to be like Shaq and finish his career in Boston because Shaq's final year was with the Celtics, got injured at the back end of it.

Uh, I mean, on the court, I can, what do you think?

Well, is that bad?

I can't see LeBron James going to play for the Celtics.

I can't, I can't see it.

And I, I can't, I can't see LeBron going to a place that there isn't already an established tie, right?

Like, Golden State has the established tie because of Steph Curry.

Cleveland has the established tie for obvious reasons.

New York has a quasi tie because they were like the runner-up back in 2010 when LeBron was gonna go there, and he has always fantasized about playing at Madison Square Garden.

Look, I don't think LeBron James.

Makes the Cavaliers a championship contender next year.

It, it, unless they do something big, unless they get Giannis too or something.

But LeBron with Steph, with Draymond another year older, maybe Jimmy comes back, they probably have to do something with some of these contracts just to get him.

Uh, some money there.

I, I, I don't, I, I don't see it.

I don't, I don't see him make him, I don't see his presence at age 41 going on 42, getting them past Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio.

They're just too many monsters in the Western Conference.

It is a different story though.

It is a different story in the East.

I mean, when we saw this for 4 years, LeBron James took advantage of the weakness of the Eastern Conference.

That's not me saying this.

That's David Griffin, the GM of the Cavaliers saying that.

Like they, look, all we were worried about was the West, man.

We were worried about the East.

Like, it's like that old, those old game of zones episodes where every guy was like, We're gonna be the king of the East.

We are gonna win the East and nobody has a chance.

Toronto had no chance.

Boston had no chance.

Atlanta had no chance.

Nobody was competing with those Cavaliers.

So, you gotta go back east if you're gonna make a move.

Cleveland, I still think Cleveland, you put LeBron, Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, Allen.

That team can win the East.

Like that team can win the Eastern Conference.

That's, that's a real thing.

Maybe it's not as good as Brunson, Annanobi, Bridges, LeBron, Towns.

Well, that's defensively, it's still a problem in that front court, but that, that would make some sense too.

I don't know, man.

You really think LeBron's gonna suit up a power forward for the Celtics playing opposite Jalen Brown, Jayson Tatum.

Nikola Vusovic, why not?

Like, like, why?

What else?

You're throwing Vusovic in there like he's Anthony Davis.

What are you talking about?

We just need jumpers, baby.

We just need jumpers.

We don't need nothing else.

We just need jumpers.

One more defender, man.

I don't know.

I'm just saying efficiently, like, even when you bring up Cleveland, it can make him a contender, but like, damn, I, you know what James do when it comes to playoffs.

Like what, like what are we talking about like.

Yeah, but if he's, if he's taken a step back and it's, he's like the 3rd option then where you got LeBron, where Mitchell, #1, LeBron, #2, maybe Mobley, you know, another year older, another step forward.

He, he's kind of plateaued offensively, but, uh, maybe he can, he can bring some more out of him.

I, I don't know.

I mean, Harden, Harden is the guy you need to make shots or you're going to lose.

I get it.

He's, that's not gonna happen.

But if, if you have him in more of a secondary role where he's more playmaker than shotmaker, I still think there's There's still a pathway there to, to winning the Eastern Conference.

I love Donovan, uh, Mitchell as much as anybody cause he, he proves people wrong all the time.

But on my bingo card, I don't, I don't think I'm gonna suit up and be like, hey bro, I'm gonna watch Donovan Mitchell in the finals.

I think, I, I, I, I, I, I'll see the Celtics in the finals with Jalen Brown and if I'm gonna watch a Donovan Mitchell led final.

Am I wrong for saying that?

No, I mean, well, you think Donovan Mitchell can't lead them to the finals is what you're saying.

I, I just, I just, yeah, I just don't see it.

Like I just don't, I just don't, I, I, I, I, I like it.

I just don't see it, but not over it, man.

You're right.

I, it would, it wouldn't be bad.

I just, I, I think they would run into more problems than what they think, like unforeseen problems, cause Donovan, he, he didn't had crazy playoff performances, and he never amounted into wins.

Remember during a bubble last year was tough.

Last year was tough, yeah, even during a bubble situation where he played like Michael Jordan and he gave up, correct me if I'm wrong, that 3-1 lead, like, you know what I'm saying, like he's been notorious of like having amazing regular seasons and then just Like go back through history, like not showing up in playoffs or having just the uh and it just dies instantly, like what the hell just happened?

Like, Even when they lost to the Knicks in one year, uh, with Cavs, it was like he, he had 30-something, but it's a whole bunch of empty numbers and no wins, and it's like, I, I, I, I don't know.

I, I, it never made sense to me.

He, he, he hooped like Jordan for a whole week and still lost.

Yeah.

Is that like, like that's just like I just, I, it never, I've never seen that.

That's all.

Like you have the best team, like two years had the best team, and then it just literally just flat.

Well, I mean, we've seen, it's not apples to apples, but like because Giannis won a championship.

But over the last few years, we've seen Giannis, when he's been healthy, balling out, but sometimes the guys around him haven't been good enough to do it.

I'm curious to see what Mitchell looks like with The kind of roster, like, look, again, last year was disappointing.

They should have gone further last year.

Even with the injuries to Darius Garland, they should have gone further last year.

That was probably the biggest blemish.

Before then, he was on some young teams with Rudy Gobert and some of the guys there and Cleveland wasn't quite ready yet because Mobley, Allen were young guys.

Like last year, came up short, that's a knock on them.

This year, if they get beat early, even if they're not a number one seed, that's gonna be something of a knock on them.

Um, so yeah, we'll, we'll see what happens there.

But, uh, I, I, I, I enjoyed this conversation except for the last part about LeBron James and Celtics.

There is no shot that LeBron James is finishing his career in a Celtics uniform, Evan, you know that.

There's a better shot of you going back to like do a final year at the University of Michigan.

That's what I think is a better chance of happening.

And that literally breaks my heart.

I promise, man, that's like cause, cause why not, bro?

You're talking about under 20 million.

I know Brad is like, man, what?

Let that go.

We can make something happen.

I'm sure Brad would like that.

I'm sure a lot of people in Boston.

Could you also like LeBron playing for Joe Missoula.

Like how would that go?

You wanna know something.

Joe's a hard ass, but he ain't stupid.

Like, do you know what I mean?

Like, like, I agree, yeah, yeah.

So, so when he, he, he's a very smart dude, and he also just has moments where he just wakes, snaps out of that killer moment and be like, Hey bro, you can't do no shit like that.

Like I don't think he, I don't think he would be that, that dismissive, but I think when you get around Joe, you, you respect how he approaches the game, how serious he is, where I think.

He might be able to somewhat help Brian in that culture.

I mean, Bron did a podcast with JJ Reddick and then showed his ass.

I think that JJ, JJ being an ex-player, I think LeBron connects with, and he's always kind of connected with Ty Lue as an ex-player too.

Like, I think he, it doesn't, it doesn't matter.

He's not going to Boston.

We're not having this conversation anymore.

He's not playing for the Boston Celtics next year.

You heard it here first.

You, you heard it here first.