Here's What Donovan Mitchell Loves Most About James Harden On The Court

Every team that traded for James Harden had a honeymoon period with the 11-time All-Star. While the Cleveland Cavaliers might end up butting heads with Harden down the line, things are looking quite rosy now with their trade deadline acquisition.

Predictably, the Cavaliers’ main man Donovan Mitchell had great things to say about his new backcourt partner. Of course, opportunities to play with top-10 scorers in NBA history don’t always land in Mitchell’s lap, so he can hardly be blamed if he offers an abundance of praise for Harden.

Prior to the Cavs’ Sunday night matchup against the OKC Thunder, “Inside the NBA” anchor Ernie Johnson asked Mitchell to describe how Harden makes Cleveland “a better team.” Notably, Spida didn’t lead with Harden’s prolific scoring.

“The thing that stands out the most is his passing ability, his IQ,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, Jarrett Allen has received a lot of that from him.”

Allen, a one-time All-Star, is fortunate indeed to play with a court general who specializes in well-placed lob passes. As Harden has proven with a good number of rim-running bigs (Dwight Howard, Clint Capela, and Ivica Zubac come to mind), he can effortlessly turn pick-and-roll situations into thunderous dunks by his hulking teammates.

That ball screen situation, of course, works because Harden himself is a shot-making genius that defenders can’t remove their eyes from. Mitchell acknowledges Harden’s “gravity” as well. “If you blitz him, you leave me alone. And vice versa,” the Cavs guard pointed out.

Fans in Cleveland are perhaps stoked to hear this, but there’s no denying that Mitchell only has a small sample size to date. Over the next several weeks, he and Harden will inevitably run into rough patches as they learn how to optimize their partnership on the floor. In the end, the Mitchell and Harden duo might come down to one major question: In a game with so much on the line, who gets the ball in the dying moments?

The ultimate test will come in the playoffs, where Harden has infamously struggled to prove his worth as a closer. When the summer rolls along, it will be interesting to see if Mitchell will still have a load of praise to send Harden’s way.