The deadline told us everything.
Two trades. Two completely different philosophies. Two completely different results.
Cleveland looked at their roster, saw a team that was good but not scary, and decided to get scary. Philadelphia looked at their roster, saw a team with Joel Embiid playing out of his mind, and decided to save money.
That's it. That's the whole trade deadline in two sentences.
Cleveland: when the gamble actually works
Here's what makes the Harden trade interesting — it's not that Cleveland got better. Obviously they got better. It's how Harden is playing.
He's taking 11 shots a game. [1] Eleven. The guy who used to launch 20 a night in Houston is out here deferring like a role player, except he's running the entire offense while doing it. He's shooting 42% from three on 6.3 attempts, his usage rate is 22.9% — the lowest since his sixth-man days in OKC — and he's racking up assists like he's trying to prove a point. [1]
