Cleveland Cavaliers star guard James Harden has received some interesting projections for the 2026-27 NBA season.
Last season ahead of the NBA trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden. It was a move that shook up the landscape of both conferences.
Harden ended up playing in 26 games with the Cavaliers the rest of the regular. He averaged 20.5 points per game to go along with 7.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent from three-point range.
In the playoffs, Harden's numbers dropped off a bit. He averaged 19.2 points, 5.5 assists, and 5.1 rebounds, shooting 41 percent overall and 29.9 percent from the three-point line.
Heading into the NBA offseason, Cleveland was widely viewed as a front-runner to reunite with LeBron James. Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening as James opted to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The team was able to rebound from the James miss to acquire Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets.
Following LeBron's decision, the Cavaliers ended up agreeing to terms with Harden on a massive three-year, $96.54 million contract.
Entering this season, Cleveland will be banking on Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley powering them to the top of the Eastern Conference. However, there are new projections for Harden that have been released that suggest regression.
RotoWire has dropped their NBA player projections for the 2026-27 campaign. When it came to Harden, they predicted that he will average 18.4 points, 7.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game.
Those numbers still aren't horrible. But, they are down from what he produced during the regular season for the Cavaliers last season.
If those projections end up being accurate, Harden would drop 2.1 points per game. He would also drop 0.4 assists per contest as well.
Obviously, those decreases would not be the end of the world for Cleveland. His numbers could drop off simply because of the talent he is playing alongside. With Mitchell on the court, the ball won't be in Harden's hands as much.
That being said, the 37-year-old guard isn't getting any younger. Age is going to start becoming a factor at some point in the near future if it hasn't already.
For the Cavaliers to be a true NBA Finals contender, they are going to need a strong version of Harden. They need that strong version not just in the regular season, but also in the playoffs.
After missing out on James in free agency, Cleveland has a smaller margin of error. Harden will need to play well to take pressure off of Mitchell. At least to RotoWire, they aren't expecting quite as strong of a year this season.
