The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t gotten off to quite the start many fans may have envisioned, and a large part of that has been the play of star guard James Harden. The Beard hasn’t been as efficient as the team needs him to be, nor has he taken care of the ball the way that is required to win in the modern NBA.

If I had to use one word to describe the play of Harden through his first 2 appearances, it would probably be: sloppy. That probably sums it up best as he genuinely appears to be going through the motions for periods of play.

Through 2 games, the veteran guard has posted averages of 14.0 Points, 5.5 Rebounds, and 6.0 Assists. That doesn’t sound terrible on the surface and for many other players, it would be a versatile stat line. That said, there are two glaring issues with his stat line overall.

The first is inefficiency. Harden has completed just 30.0% (6/20) of his field goals, including 33.3% from long distance.…