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The Cleveland Cavaliers drastically changed their team at the start of the month when they traded multiple rotation players for James Harden, Dennis Schroder, and Keon Ellis.
They’ve played eight games since their first trade for Schroder and Ellis. That isn’t a huge sample size — and they haven’t exactly played the best defensive teams during that stretch — but it’s large enough to make analyzing some of the impact stats worthwhile, even if nothing conclusive should be drawn.
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With that in mind, let’s look at some of the new strengths and weaknesses of this team based on the numbers.
Harden has taken the offense to another level
Harden was brought in to boost the offense, and he’s done just that. The Cavs have registered an absurd 128.1 offensive rating (99th percentile) when Harden is on the court. That’s nine points better than it has been without him during that same timeframe. And for context, the Cavs had a 116.3 offensive rating (61st percentile) with Darius Garland playing this season.
There’s multiple areas Harden has been able to help the offense.
First, the Cavs have gotten to the rim much better due to his ability to drive inside and playmake for the bigs.
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They’re taking 3.4% more of their shots at the rim with Harden on the floor than they are without him (89th percentile). More importantly, they’re converting 69.8% of them (82nd percentile), which is 5.7% better than they are when he isn’t playing (93rd percentile).
Second, the Cavs are getting to the line much more easily. The Cavs have had a free-throw rate of 28.2 with Harden on the floor (99th percentile). For context, their season-long free-throw rate is 20, which is good for 22nd in the league.
Lastly, the Cavs are hitting more threes.
Cleveland has connected on 37.3% of their triples with Harden on the court. That’s above their season-long average of 35.9%. Harden shooting 47.1% from distance certainly helps.
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The three most efficient ways to score are getting to the basket, getting to the free-throw line, and making more threes. Harden has helped drastically in each of these areas….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/stats-tell-us-cavs-trade-110000804.html
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Publish date : 2026-02-24 11:00:00
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