Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyle Korver Has Arrived, What It Means For Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers newest sniper had himself quite a game last night. It’s safe to say that Kyle Korver has arrived.

Kyle Korver, a 14-year veteran who spent the last five years of his career in Atlanta, has finally had the type of game that the Cleveland Cavaliers envisioned he could when they traded for him last Saturday. It didn’t take long.

Korver went 7-of-10 from the field and knocked down four three-point attempts last night as the Cavs won 120-108. He also chipped in 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Korver, whose individual defense looked decent last night, also contributed to the game with 2 steals as he was constantly in the right place on defense.

In just his third game with the Cleveland Cavaliers, after only hitting one three-point attempt in the two games prior to the Cavs matchup against the Sacramento Kings, Korver went off for 18 points and all were of the catch-and-shoot variety. It seemed like all of the shots were off a pass from LeBron James as well, who played more in the second unit after a lineup switch placed Iman Shumpert with the starters and DeAndre Liggins with the second unit.

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Korver looked every bit like Ray Allen as he caught the ball coming off screens and squared his shoulders up to the basket with consistency before knocking down a three-point shot. His lightning-quick release might be as fast as Channing Frye‘s, yet, because he’s able to hit his threes while motion, it adds an entirely different element to the Cavs second unit. An element that J.R. Smith brings to the starting unit; a player who not only isn’t afraid to knock down shots but can not them down from anywhere and no matter how much space he has.

Now, Korver could end up as a starter but Lue may not make the move just yet as he won’t want to mess up the rhythm that Shumpert just got last game. Shumpert hit his first four threes of the game and helped get the Cavs rolling to an early lead. Yet, a lot of Shumpert’s success was due to being more open. Shumpert is more open with the starting lineup because defenders gravitate towards the paint to stop James and Kyrie Irving from attacking the rim.

According to stats.nba.com, Shumpert hasn’t made any shots with the defender within two feet of him when he’s spotted-up behind the line. He only makes 33.3 percent of his attempts when a defender is within four feet of him.

However, he makes 42.0 percent of his shots with four to six feet of space and 36.7 percent of his shots with six feet of space or more.

Korver, apparently, doesn’t need too much space. He’ll knock down the shots anyways and has knocked down 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts with a defender within two feet of him.

In addition, in the second unit, Korver’s ability to shoot the ball allows Richard Jefferson to attack the rim more as the presence of another pure shooter beside him frees up space in the paint. Liggins is no longer expected to thrive as a spot-up shooter and can instead be brought in as a defensive ace in the second unit. With a playmaking player beside him, Liggins could be used on post-ups, cuts and as the secondary ball-handler until Smith returns. At that point, Liggins will likely be the 11th man for the Cavs and, like Kay Felder and Jordan McRae, only play when Lue finds it necessary to play them.

While that was surely a consideration the Cavs had when they acquired Korver, it shouldn’t be sweat off the champs’ or Liggins’ back.

Not only does Smith’s return coincide with the playoffs and likely, reduced minutes for Liggins in any case, Korver and Smith are two all-time great shooters and Shumpert has been a valued member of the organization both on and off-the-court for going on three years now. Liggins has fought his way back to relevance after entering basketball purgatory, and he’ll receive another chance after this year if Korver plays for a different organization or hangs up his laces after this season. He’ll also be useful against teams like the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors as the Cavs try to reach the NBA Finals for a third consecutive time and teams go deep in their bench as the grueling playoffs take a physical tole on some of the main guys.

With the arrival of Korver comes great expectations for the Cavs team. Last night, they looked nearly unstoppable offensively. That’s how they looked early in the season when Smith was in the starting lineup and playing well, as well.

Do you think that Kyle Korver just had his breakthrough game for the Cleveland Cavaliers? How do you think it affects the team as a whole? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.