The Cleveland Cavaliers look scarier than ever since the arrival of James Harden. Before the NBA trade deadline, the Cavs made a last-minute decision to send Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Harden.
Given how stacked the Cavaliers look heading into the second half of the season, a former NBA champion made a bold prediction about Cleveland.
Kendrick Perkins Wants To See Cavaliers at Least Compete in the Eastern Conference Finals
With the addition of Harden in the Cavaliers’ lineup, Cleveland feels more legitimate as a contender in the playoffs. So far, Harden is undefeated as a Cavalier. In his first two games with his newfound team, he helped them secure victories over the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets.
Harden has easily transitioned and established himself as the team’s point guard, finally giving Donovan Mitchell a playmaker to set him up consistently.
Having all that in mind, former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins now believes that the Cavaliers no longer have an excuse to lose.
Perkins pointed out how the front office has done everything they can to surround Mitchell with the support he needs to hopefully win the championship this season. The former champion also noted how LeBron James never got the same treatment as Mitchell when he was still representing his hometown.
With all that said, Perkins wants to see Cleveland make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, if not the NBA Finals, this season.
“I believe that the Cavs’ ceiling is the finals,” Perkins said. “Donovan Mitchell is on the clock. The Cleveland Cavaliers have done more for being aggressive for Donovan Mitchell than they did for LeBron James.”
“When you add one of the greatest offensive players of all time in James Harden, one of the best facilitators that we’ve had over the last three years, has done that transition to be that actual point guard and making guys around him better, absolutely, James Harden elevates the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Perkins added.
“I’m looking at the Cavs, I’m looking at Donovan Mitchell, and I’m saying minimum, you better get to the conference finals,” Perkins continued.
So far, things are going well for the Cavaliers. They’re currently on a four-game winning streak and appear to be unstoppable for now. However, that will all change once teams get to rest and recover from the All-Star break. Only then will we put Cleveland to the test.
