Cleveland Cavaliers: Three initial takeaways from Kyle Korver trade

#1: Moving forward won’t be easy, but moves like this are necessary

I’m not sure there were any Cleveland fans (or any fans of teams Korver played for) that didn’t like the guy. What’s not to like about a career 43.2 percent three-point shooter that electrifies his team and the crowd in his minutes coming off the bench? Nothing, I wouldn’t think.

“Multiple players are upset with the trading of Korver,” according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon (subscription required and h/t Bleacher Report’s Kyle Newport), and as a large part of the reason for that is “this is a team with very little outside shooting.”

As our own Eli Mooneyham detailed, Korver was a model teammate who helped players such as Cedi Osman (and many others) refine their shooting as much as he could. Korver’s work ethic and team-first attitude are the two key reasons he’s been in the NBA since 2003. He will be missed, but as we’ve discussed often here at KJG, veteran players are going to likely be dealt sooner or later for the Cavaliers to really grow and potentially be contenders again in the Eastern Conference.

Tristan Thompson (per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor) touched on how business is business.

"“At the end of the day it’s a business and anyone can get moved,” he said.”"

This team is not going to be a winning one for probably a few years, and that’s okay, as long as players such as Collin Sexton, Osman, potentially Rodney Hood if he comes back next summer, and Larry Nance Jr. make considerable strides with good playing time.

Secondly, although Cleveland went on and brought in Burks, I don’t see him having much of an impact on the Cavs.