Cavs Have Painfully Obvious James Harden Problem

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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - NOVEMBER 4: James Harden #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball in front of Micah Peavy #16 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Paycom Center on November 4, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired James Harden midway through last season, and while it took a bit of an adjustment period, the hope was that in the long run, adding “The Beard” to their team would make the Cavs better.

There’s obviously no way to play out the alternate reality, but the Cavaliers made a solid playoff run before being eliminated by the eventual champion New York Knicks. It certainly seemed like the Harden era could’ve gotten off to a worse start.

It could’ve started, for example, the way this season has for Harden.

Any way you slice it, Harden has been poor.

James has not been good in the first 8 games. No other way to put it.

— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) November 5, 2026

The concern level for Cleveland has to be rising a bit, because Harden isn’t getting any younger. The risk with him always included the age factor.

At the moment, Harden looks well off the pace, and it’s not clear whether he can turn it around.

James Harden Advanced Stats Paint Bad Picture

The stat “Net Rating” shows what a player’s performance is, per 100 possessions, in the combined difference between offensive and defensive rating. For example, if a team scores 100 points per 100 possessions with a player on the floor, and allows 100 points per 100 possessions with a player on the floor, that player’s Net Rating is 0.

You can then take Net Rating and compare it for when a player is in the game versus when a player isn’t in the game to see how a team does overall on one side or the other of that equation.

When Harden is in the game, the Cave have a Net Rating of negative-2.1. When he’s out of the game, the Cleveland Net Rating is positive-11.0.

So the Cavs are 13.1 points per 100 possessions better when Harden is out of the game than when he’s playing.

Reality Check

There are two sides to this stat.

One side points out that the Cavaliers have played just eight games and these numbers could stabilize. True.

There’s also the fact that the rest of the lineup around Harden matters, as well. Yep, that’s true, too.

But that’s a striking difference. It’s hard to explain away just with a small sample size. Maybe it’s not predictive of what comes next, but it makes clear that so far, Harden has been bad.

If the Cavs don’t get a better version of Harden, their goals this season will be tough to reach.