Kyle Korver is no longer on the Cleveland Cavaliers, as he was traded on Wednesday night to the Utah Jazz in exchange for two second-round picks and shooting guard Alec Burks. It was the right move at the right time for all parties involved.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are just 4-16 after twenty games of the 2018-19 season. They have no plans of making the postseason this year after beginning the campaign with murmurs of sneaking in as a bottom-level seed in the Eastern Conference. But after the cruel reality set in that those expectations laid by the Cleveland front office were unreachable, the organization has now started the steps towards a lengthy rebuild.
The trading of Kyle Korver (as was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski), was just one of many moves in the process.
While Korver never gave Cleveland fans a true signature moment in his two-and-a-half years with the Wine and Gold, he was always a class act. He took fewer minutes in the rotation with grace and played his heart out when the time for him to play arrived. His numbers weren’t too much to marvel at considering the entire situation but he still gave some quality production.
The bottom line about this deal is that the timing was right for everyone.
Korver had served his duties efficiently on and off the court for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Utah needed to bring some shooting around star guard Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland is building a young core right now, not fighting for playoff contention.
But the players on this team will remember what Korver did for them, regardless of shimmer and shine.
The veterans will remember the wars that the sharpshooter took part in with them. They’ll remember his contributions to two Eastern Conference Championship teams and the shots he hit to get them there.
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His selfless nature was a breath of fresh air and he never demanded any recognition or attention. When the Wine and Gold traded for Korver two seasons ago, they expected to get a pro’s pro with a rangy shot. They got both.
The younger players on this roster will remember the 37-year old a little differently. Where Korver was viewed as a coveted veteran for a playoff team, his tenure was spent doing so much more than that.
Korver helped a slew of players on the Cavs roster crispen up their shot and turn it into a more effective tool in their arsenal. LeBron James initially chatted about Korver’s assistance with improving his free-throw shooting along with creating a pure shooting form.
James gave high praise when speaking on one of the cleanest shooters in NBA history. And from there, it became more of a point for those around the team to watch how Korver helped the team while on the sidelines.
Cedi Osman was the biggest beneficiary of Korver’s willingness to teach. Osman came from overseas last season and had a little trouble adapting to the American way of playing the game.
The Turkey-born rookie was not finding any continuity in any facet of his game and his hard-nosed style was the only thing landing him any minutes in then-coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation.
Then Korver got ahold of him.
It became more chronicled near the end of last season that Korver had spent time with Osman on his shot. How it wasn’t apparent at first is really puzzling to this day, maybe due to the lack of minutes Cedi was getting on a nightly basis.
But the vet and rook were working on making sure Osman would never have trouble on the offensive end again.
Korver has also worked with Rodney Hood recently and had been seen putting in some time with the guys before games, helping them get their shot to the highest grade. Those are traits about Korver that will be remembered during his tenure in Cleveland.
Maybe the Cavs could’ve held onto Korver’s services a little longer. But the deal they got back wasn’t too bad and there was nothing else for him to accomplish. It was the right thing to do for the stand-up guy Korver is.
For a Cleveland Cavaliers organization that needs to make sure its image is strong for the future, how they handle trading these veterans will be imperative to that process.
Not a bad job done by general manager Koby Altman and company.