James Harden’s future is taking shape after a very mixed bag of a postseason.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star Harden is expected to opt out of his contract this offseason and to negotiate a longer contract with the team, Bobby Marks of ESPN reported this week. Marks notes that Harden’s new contract could be for two years and that an opt-out would allow the Cavaliers to potentially get under the second apron of the luxury tax, giving them more flexibility to build out the rest of their roster.
Harden, the former NBA MVP, made $39.4 million this season and holds a $42.3 million player option for next season. He will have until June 29 to make an official decision on that player option.
After being acquired in a February trade with the LA Clippers, Harden averaged 20.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game as a clear No. 2 option to Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. But Harden had a very inconsistent performance in the playoffs, even if Cleveland made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Harden had postseason averages of 19.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists a game on flat 41/30/83 shooting splits and also produced some major stinkers along the way, including with his miserable defense in Cleveland’s Game 1 ECF collapse to the New York Knicks. After the Knicks swept the Cavaliers in the series, Harden made things even worse with a horrific take in his postgame press conference.
Set to turn 37 in August, Harden has been playing out the last couple of years on 1+1 contracts. He might end up resetting and doing the same with the Cavaliers this summer, which could open up some possibilities for Cleveland to pull off a specific shocker.
