Cavs season preview: James Harden – What does year two look like?

Cleveland and Harden agreed to a three-year, $97 million deal this offseason. It felt like it had been done for a while, but Harden, to his credit, waited to sign until the Cavaliers completed their big offseason swing: acquiring Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets.

Harden is content when his team is stable, in a state he considers contention-ready, while also having a good contract. Theoretically, he has all of those things now. Cleveland knew the risks that come with him lately and took that swing at last year's trade deadline anyway. Now, as the Cavaliers and Harden enter their second season together, the question is what the partnership looks like with a full runway.

There wasn't much time last season for Harden to learn the offense and build rapport with his teammates. Across the regular season and playoffs, he suited up for 44 games. He averaged 20.5 points, 8 assists and 4.8 rebounds in the regular season, and in the playoffs those numbers dipped to roughly 19/5/5.