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All-time great players achieve that status by continually defying norms, yet Father Time remains undefeated.
James Harden will be remembered as one of the ten best guards in league history when all is said and done. His peak as a one-man offense in the 2010s with the Houston Rockets hasn’t been topped by many; neither has his incredible longevity. He’s 189 assists away from becoming the only player besides LeBron James to rank in the top ten all-time in both points and assists. But even all-time greats have an expiration date.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers made a gamble earlier this summer that Harden would continue to play at or near an All-Star level by signing him to a new deal that will pay him an average of $32 million annually over the next three seasons.
Harden’s game has aged gracefully over the last handful of years. He isn’t the one-man offense he was in his prime, yet he has continually found ways to fit into and elevate groups as a supporting piece.
That carried over this past season to Cleveland. The Cavaliers played their best in the playoffs when Harden was on the floor. His ability to orchestrate the offense and take over late in games when needed is one of the reasons why the Cavs were able to advance to the Conference Finals for the first time in eight seasons.
If we judge his new contract on how he just played, this would be a good deal for Cleveland.
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Every dollar matters in a salary cap league. That’s especially true for a team like the Cavs that has been doing everything in its power to cut costs after spending last season in the second apron. However, you aren’t going to get a guard playing at or near an All-Star level that isn’t on a rookie deal for cheaper.
To evaluate the contract, let’s first try to pinpoint where exactly Harden is from a skill perspective going into this season.
Player ranking guides shouldn’t be taken as gospel truth, but they do provide a general consensus for where someone stands in the league hierarchy. Currently, The Ringer and NBA 2K27 have him as the 31st-best player. HoopsHype lists him as the ninth-best guard.
This is in line with where some of…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/history-suggests-james-harden-contract-170000984.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-09 17:00:00
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