Players will no longer switch teams through free agency in the traditional sense. Instead, they will be traded to teams that are willing to offer contract extensions when a player has just one year left on their deal. This approach seems to explain James Harden\u2019s trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to comments made by Koby Altman during a media session on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
When asked if he planned to extend Harden\u2019s contract past this season, Altman said it wasn\u2019t the right moment to discuss that and that negotiations couldn\u2019t take place until after the finals. However, he made it clear that Harden wants to be in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe envisions his future with the Cavaliers,\u201d Altman stated.<\/p>\n
Altman elaborated that Harden effectively had a no-trade clause but waived it to join Cleveland. \u201cHe controlled where he would and wouldn\u2019t go. He left behind a great setup in Los Angeles\u2014one that helped him reach his goals\u2014and chose Cleveland because it\u2019s a prime basketball destination,\u201d Altman explained.<\/p>\n
Harden is earning $39.4 million this season, with a $42.3 million player option for the next one. If the Cavaliers thought Harden wasn\u2019t committed to their team, they wouldn\u2019t have made the trade. Likewise, Harden likely wouldn\u2019t have given up his no-trade clause if he didn\u2019t believe he\u2019d receive an extension.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to next summer, there\u2019s a chance the Cavs will offer Harden a two-year deal, potentially with a player option in the second year, depending on Harden\u2019s performance and business decisions over recent seasons.<\/p>\n
For now, it\u2019s evident that Harden is keen to be part of Cleveland, and the Cavaliers are pleased to have him.<\/p>\n
Altman summed it up, saying, \u201cI\u2019ve been advocating for a long time that Cleveland is a fantastic basketball destination. We\u2019re experiencing some of the best moments of our careers here, and our players want to be a part of it. Having one of the greatest players ever choose to come here is both an honor and privilege. It\u2019s exciting to watch James reach new milestones as he pursues a championship ring with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fan Take:<\/strong> This development signals a major shift in how player movement happens, putting more power in the players’ hands while ensuring stability for teams. For basketball fans, Harden\u2019s commitment to Cleveland could spark a thrilling new chapter in the NBA, potentially reshaping the championship landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Players will no longer switch teams through free agency in the traditional sense. Instead, they will be traded to teams that are willing to offer contract extensions when a player has just one year left on their deal. This approach seems to explain James Harden\u2019s trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to comments made by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-41710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}