The Cavaliers didn’t bring in James Harden to watch him open games from the bench. But if Cleveland is serious about squeezing every last drop out of its roster, Kenny Atkinson ought to at least consider a setup that would have sounded unthinkable when Harden arrived: making him a reserve.
That’s not a knock on Harden. It’s about fit.
Donovan Mitchell is already Cleveland’s offensive engine, the guy who can crack a defense, bail out broken possessions and force attention that opens everything else up. Harden does a lot of the same things.
He’s a high-level pick-and-roll guard, a sharp passer and the kind of creator who can run an offense without another star handling the first touch.
That overlap is exactly why the Cavaliers should think bigger than simply plugging two high-usage guards into the same starting group and calling it a day. The better question is whether Cleveland gets more by staggering them.
The numbers in the Cavaliers’ lineup data at least make the idea worth a look. In the previously reviewed WOWY sample, Cleveland was plus-9.0 in net rating with Mitchell on the floor without Harden.
When both played together, that figure dropped to plus-4.0. Harden-led minutes without Mitchell came out at plus-3.2.
None of that is a commandment. Sample size matters, lineups change, opponents change. But those splits do say something important: this isn’t a concept that should be brushed aside just because Harden has a big résumé.
The Lakers ran into a similar conversation with Russell Westbrook in 2022, when they moved him to the bench and asked him to lead the second unit instead of sharing every opening tip with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It wasn’t about pretending Westbrook had lost his game. It was about using what he still did best in a different setting.
That experiment didn’t rescue Los Angeles. The roster problems were bigger than one role change, and the Lakers eventually traded him. But it did show that a former MVP could still matter as the organizer of reserve groups, with more freedom to push the pace and create without having to fit around another superstar’s possessions.
Cleveland could try a cleaner version of that idea with Harden. Imagine him coming in against opposing reserves with Jarrett Allen as a lob threat, Evan Mobley in screening actions and shooters spaced around him. Instead of splitting the creation load with Mitchell, Harden would be the one steering the offense.
And there’s another layer here: Harden’s shooting gives Cleveland a different kind of pressure point than Westbrook could. Defenders can’t simply ignore him on the perimeter.
This wouldn’t have to mean a demotion in any meaningful sense. Harden could still log starter-level minutes, still close games and still be one of the team’s most important offensive weapons. The point is that starting and running the offense don’t have to be the same assignment.
There are obvious hurdles. Harden has spent almost his entire career in the starting lineup, and a veteran with that kind of stature has to buy into the change. Cleveland also has to make sure the first unit still functions well without his playmaking.
But Atkinson’s job is to find the best combinations, not just line up the biggest names for tipoff. Cleveland doesn’t need to treat Mitchell and Harden as a package deal every night. It can let them share the floor when the matchup calls for it, then give each guard separate stretches to control the game.
The lesson from Westbrook isn’t that a role change always fails. It’s that the idea deserves real consideration.
For the Cavaliers, the real question is simple: does Harden help them more as Mitchell’s running mate from the start, or as the guard who keeps their offense alive when Mitchell sits? That’s an experiment worth trying.
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The link between the two only deepened in October, when Mitchell took part in the postseason spotlight around the Guardians and stepped onto the field for the ceremonial first pitch. For Cleveland fans, it was another reminder that the citys pro teams are overlapping in ways that feel personal, not staged. Even better, the Mitchell-Adell connection has given both fan bases something to smile about while the baseball stakes keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]
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Number 4 has turned into one of those Cavaliers jerseys that carries a little extra weight, and Evan Mobley is the latest player asked to wear it with purpose. The numbers history in Cleveland runs through a long line of different kinds of contributors, from Campy Russell to a rookie who set franchise records, then on to veterans such as Antawn Jamison and Iman Shumpert. Mobley has already made his own case as part of that group, built less on flash than on the defensive value that has made him one of the most important players on the roster.
What makes this next chapter more interesting is how much the Cavs are clearly invested in what comes next for him. Mobley is already established as a defensive standout, but the teams willingness to keep him in place after a summer of outside interest says plenty about how it views his ceiling. Cleveland also appears ready to ask for more on the offensive end, with the coaching staff looking at ways to put him in a different role and squeeze out a bigger jump. [Read more 🡒]