The Cleveland Cavaliers made a bold attempt at improving their roster in preparation for a deep playoff run. Instead of standing pat at the NBA trade deadline, they decided to trade their young point guard, Darius Garland, for star veteran guard James Harden.
While the move came with some critiques, the early returns looked promising. Harden helped the Cavaliers beat the Nuggets, Hornets, and Knicks in his first handful of games with the team, and his chemistry in the Cavaliers' offense hasn’t looked half bad.
Then bad luck struck Harden and the Cavaliers when Harden was diagnosed with a broken hand. This could have spelled doom for the Cavaliers, but a recent report indicates that Harden doesn’t plan to get surgery to fix his hand and will play through the injury.
Jeff Stotts reported, “James Harden Injury News: The thumb is made up of 2 phalanges. Harden’s break involves the distal phalanx (tip of the thumb) & is non-displaced. This is a best case scenario for a quick return. Players to suffer this injury & avoid surgery miss an average of 6.5 games (~17 days).”
So Harden won’t be out the rest of the season; he will likely miss a chunk of games. This is tough for the Cavs and Harden, as he already had a short window to build chemistry with his new team before the playoffs. Now that the window will be even shorter.
Still, in the end, this news is better than the alternative. There are players all around the league shutting it down for the season and getting surgeries they may or may not need. Harden is going to tough it out and try to play through the pain.
