Cavs Roll Out Video Game Lineup with Harden and Mitchell

The Cleveland Cavaliers are officially rolling out a starting five of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen this Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is the exact kind of lineup that sounds like a late-night video game simulation where the salary cap is turned off and the user just starts mashing the trade override button.

"Lineup alert: Cavs will start Harden, Mitchell, Watson, Mobley, Allen on Thursday."

Seeing Harden and Mitchell share a backcourt is going to be a fascinating social experiment in usage rates. Mitchell is already coming off a stretch where he posted career highs with 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds, proving he needs the ball to dictate the offense.

Now you add Harden, a guy whose entire 17-year career is built on dominating possession, into the mix. Figuring out the prop markets for these two is going to require a whiteboard, an abacus, and a deep understanding of body language.

The frontcourt is where this gets terrifying for the rest of the Eastern Conference. Mobley is bringing his 18.6 points and 9.3 boards per game to the table, while Allen remains a walking double-double waiting at the rim.

Slotting Watson in at small forward gives them a glue guy who quietly boasts a 56 percent effective field goal rate. He does not need to demand touches, which is a minor miracle given the backcourt pairing.

The real test comes Thursday night in Philadelphia. If this group figures out how to share the basketball, the Cavaliers are going to be an absolute nightmare to defend.