James Harden agrees to three-year, $97m Cleveland Cavaliers deal: Report

Former NBA MVP ‌and 11-time All-Star guard James ⁠Harden ⁠has agreed to a new three-year, $97m contract to return to the Cleveland ⁠Cavaliers, his agents told ESPN on Thursday.

Per his agents at Equity Sports, ⁠the deal includes a player option for the 2028-29 US basketball season and a trade kicker.

Harden’s new deal comes one day after ‌the Cavaliers reportedly acquired fellow guard Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a trade that also included the Los Angeles Clippers.

Harden, who turns 37 next Wednesday, declined a $42.3m player ⁠option on his contract earlier ⁠this summer in a bid to secure a multi-year deal.

Cleveland acquired Harden from the Clippers at ⁠the February trade deadline and sent fellow All-Star guard ⁠Darius Garland to Los ⁠Angeles.

Harden averaged 20.5 points and 7.7 assists in 26 regular-season games for the Cavaliers.

He has averages of ‌24.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 1,221 regular- season appearances (1,007 starts) ‌with ‌the Oklahoma City Thunder (2009-12), Houston Rockets (2012-2021), Brooklyn Nets (2021-22), Philadelphia 76ers (2022-23), Clippers (2023-26) and Cavaliers.