Cleveland drops a line

The Clippers won 17 of 22, Cavs cranked out victories in 15 of 22 contests. They play each other on Wednesday, in Los Angeles.

Hey. Who wants to screw up, both teams.

James Harden for Darius Garland. Sounds like a bad-but-legal trade Kelly Dwyer would make up (yearly subscription is only fifty bucks!).

Harden is due a contract extension and the Clippers don't want to lend him one, while Garland can't stay on the court due to two somewhat severely damaged big ol' toes. Cleveland are pointedly better this season without its All-Star point guard, Harden could be due for a dive. It makes completely and utter sense, like many basketball trades gone terribly in retrospect.

The basic logic is its death knell: Clippers gotta get young somehow, Cavs ownership badly want to win an NBA title while LeBron James remains an active NBA player.

Sure, Donovan Mitchell, gotta make sure he re-signs in Cleveland again. But mostly LeBron. Must spite LeBron with a non-LeBron championship in Cleveland.

Cleveland's fans may not be as keen as management to crunch the throttle with the horizon approaching, trading for someone over a decade older than Garland. Not their team! Not their team.