How James Harden and Evan Mobley have developed chemistry with limited playing time

INDEPENDENCE — Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been asked how James Harden has helped this team since his arrival in early February. He’s spoken at length about how good a passer he is and how skilled he is as a scorer. But there’s one thing that sticks out above all of that — his knowledge of the game and his willingness to pass that on to others on the team. Both are byproducts of his obsession with the game.

“There are certain players in this league that they love it more,” Atkinson said of Harden. “They’re obsessed. There’s love and obsession.”

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Harden falls into that second category.

“There’s very few of them to that degree,” Atkinson said. “How obsessed they are with the game, the nuances of the game, it’s different.”

Those nuances show through most when Harden is running the pick-and-roll. He’s an expert at that action and has developed seemingly instant chemistry with nearly every big he’s come in contact with throughout his 17-year career with six different franchises. That one exception was Evan Mobley — at least in their first few weeks together.

Mobley’s game didn’t fit with Harden’s right off the bat. Mobley isn’t known for being a hard screen setter and roller. Instead, he’s typically done most of his damage attacking in space off the dribble, cutting, and attacking after slipping screens.

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Earlier this season, Dallas Mavericks head coach and legendary point guard Jason Kidd said that it took him half a season before he felt comfortable with a new big. The Cavs didn’t have that much time to make things work with Harden since they traded for him four months into the season. They had to find a different way to develop their on-court chemistry without game reps. That meant they had to do most of their work in the film room.

“Us going through film, me learning him, him learning me, and where he likes to pass the ball. That was a big thing at the start,” Mobley said. “Once I kind of figured that out, and how he likes to come off [screens], and what his cues are. Sometimes you can’t really say anything. You…

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Publish date : 2026-04-16 10:00:00

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