James Harden Shoots 45.6% From Three as Cavs Go 8-1, While Bears Dump DJ Moore's $49 Million Contract

One month into the post-deadline NBA landscape, James Harden is making Cleveland's front office look prescient. The 11-time All-Star has led the Cavaliers to an 8-1 record since suiting up, shooting a blistering 45.6% from three-point range while orchestrating an offense that's scoring 122.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor—a rate that would lead the league over a full season, according to Yahoo Sports.

What makes the performance more remarkable: Harden's doing it with a fractured thumb on his non-shooting hand. His individual numbers—19.1 points, 7.9 assists, 5.1 rebounds per game—aren't the gaudy stat lines of his MVP years, but they don't need to be. He's dropped his usage rate from 31.3% in Los Angeles to 23.5% in Cleveland, moving faster and isolating less. The fit alongside Donovan Mitchell, the whole point of the trade, is working exactly as designed.

Cleveland's gamble was simple: pair two elite shot creators so the Cavs always have one on the floor, and make Mitchell's life easier when they share the court. Through seven games together, the returns validate the strategy. Mitchell-Harden lineups have outscored opponents by 11 points per 100 possessions. Mitchell-solo minutes? A devastating plus-23.2. Harden-alone lineups have held serve at minus-1.0 in 98 minutes. Dominate most of the game, tread water the rest, and you're a contender—which is precisely what Cleveland looks like.

The Harden-Jarrett Allen partnership has been instant chemistry. Harden has assisted on 21 of Allen's 66 baskets during their shared minutes, according to Yahoo Sports, lofting lobs and delivering pocket passes that reward Allen's rim-running aggression. He's also set up 21 combined threes for off-ball shooters Sam Merrill and Jaylon Tyson. But the real impact shows in Mitchell's shot profile: his attempts at the basket are up significantly with Harden on the floor, and more of those close-range tries are assisted, per PBP Stats.

Cleveland's deadline haul didn't stop with Harden. Keon Ellis has been a defensive menace off the bench—19 steals, 15 blocks, 33 deflections in just 252 minutes, during which the Cavs have outscored opponents by 41 points. With Ellis on the floor, Cleveland forces turnovers on 19% of opponent possessions, a rate that would lead the league. Head coach Kenny Atkinson called him "unique" after a recent win, telling The Inside Shot: "Sometimes he gets his deflection and you don't even see how it happened. Like, his hands are so fast, you don't see how he got the deflection."

Dennis Schröder adds another dimension, providing instant offense (15 points, five assists in Tuesday's win over Detroit) and full-court defensive pressure that can wear down opposing ball-handlers—something Cleveland experienced firsthand when Indiana deployed it against them in last year's playoffs. Having Schröder and Ellis to apply 94-foot pressure gives the Cavaliers tactical options they lacked before.

While the NBA's trade season delivered on-court results, the NFL's offseason trades reveal a different calculus: financial desperation masquerading as strategy. The Chicago Bears' decision to ship DJ Moore to Buffalo for a second-round pick is exhibit A.

Bears GM Ryan Poles faced an untenable situation of his own making. In summer 2024, after Moore posted 1,364 receiving yards, Poles signed him to a four-year, $110 million extension averaging $27.5 million per season—before the deal even kicked in. Two years later, Moore's production had cratered to exactly half: 682 yards in 2025. New head coach Ben Johnson, who values blocking receivers and heavy 12-personnel sets, clearly didn't envision Moore as a focal point. The receiver had become Chicago's third or fourth passing option behind Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and Luther Burden III.

Here's the financial trap: Chicago had already paid Moore a $20 million signing bonus as a sunk cost. His $23.5 million base salary for 2026 was guaranteed, and another $15.5 million for 2027 was set to guarantee this month, according to ESPN. The Bears were staring at $49 million committed over two years to a player who wouldn't be a top-two target in their offense. For a team with major roster needs—center Drew Dalman unexpectedly retired this week—that's cap space they couldn't afford to waste.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell had pegged Moore's trade value at roughly a fifth-round pick in a hypothetical deal last month. Instead, Poles extracted the 60th overall pick from Buffalo, equivalent to a mid-third-rounder in value by the Chase Stuart draft chart. It's a stunning return for a player whose contract had become a liability, even if it required eating that $20 million signing bonus for a contract Moore never played a snap under in Chicago.

The Bills, meanwhile, finally landed the receiver GM Brandon Beane has pursued for years, hoping Moore can be the true No. 1 option Josh Allen has lacked. But they're betting $49 million over two years on a 29-year-old coming off his worst season in years, whose route-running mistakes contributed to a Caleb Williams interception in overtime against the Rams that helped sink Chicago's season.

These trades illuminate the divergent pressures shaping professional sports' transaction markets. Cleveland's moves reflect a win-now team adding complementary pieces around established stars, willing to absorb injury risk (Harden's thumb, Jaren Jackson Jr.'s season-ending knee surgery after 72 minutes in Utah) for playoff upside. Chicago's reflects the cold mathematics of guaranteed contracts and coaching changes—a $20 million mistake transformed into a second-round asset through shrewd negotiation.

One month in, Harden is making Cleveland's bet look smart. Whether Buffalo's gamble on Moore pays off, or whether the Bears just pulled off a salary-dump heist, will take longer to determine. But the early returns suggest that in sports as in life, sometimes the best move is the one that gets you out of a bad situation—even if you're the one who created it.