The Cleveland Cavaliers got ahead of the trade frenzy by sending Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for James Harden.
While the Harden-Garland swap surprised many around the sports world, it turns out that this had been discussed weeks ago. And, even Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was aware of such discussions, according to Mark Spears of Andscape.
Cleveland Cavaliers had their first conversation about a James Harden trade six weeks ago, a source told @andscape. @spidadmitchell was aware of the talks. Mitchell said he used to workout with Harden and Chris Paul early in his career and go on adidas trips with Harden as well.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) February 5, 2026
Harden reportedly wants to compete for an NBA title, and he feels the better option than LA is going to Cleveland.
So, while the Harden-Garland trade surfaced on the internet rather quickly, it appears that the Cavs and Clippers had discussed it to some extent at the end of 2025.
The Cavs defeated the Clippers 124-91 on Wednesday at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, Calif., although neither player involved in the trade suited up just yet.
After the Cavs win, Mitchell said that Harden will “make life easier for everybody.”
The expectation is that Harden will make his Cavs debut on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif.
