Cavaliers trade Kyle Korver to Utah

The Cleveland Cavaliers began to sweep the veterans out the door with the first of what is expected to be many moves as the team attempts a rebuild as the Cavaliers traded veteran three-point specialist Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz in return for forward Alec Burks and two future second-round draft picks.

The 37-year-old Korver had asked to be traded in the off-season, but the Cavaliers had demurred by stating that they expected to compete for the playoffs without LeBron James, which lasted all of a few games into a start of 4-15 upon the time of Korver's trading to Salt Lake.
Korver was averaging just under seven points for the Cavaliers but was hitting three-pointers at a forty-six percent clip, which is what makes a player like Korver always attractive as a role player for a contender and makes him marketable for a team in the bottom half of the standings.

Alec Burks averaged around eight points a game as a guard/occasional small forward for the Jazz, having spent his entire career with Utah after being drafted by them in the first round in 2011.
Burks has struggled to stay on the court for Utah over the past four seasons, playing more than half the games just one time over that term.
Burks will come motivated to Cleveland as his eleven million dollars per year contract expires at the end of the season, so Burks will be using the remainder of the year as an audition for the Cavaliers and the rest of the league for a new deal, although he's unlikely to receive anywhere near the contract that he currently owns.
Burks contract could make him attractive to a team in need of cap space in the off-season so Burks might want to rent in Cleveland for the next few months before the trade deadline in February.
Cleveland also received Utah's 2020 second rounder and Washington's 2021 second rounder.
More often than not, these are used to make other trades work or picking European players that rarely come to North America, but rights can be moved around to finish off trades.

Alec Burks will play a few months in Cleveland, maybe show he's healthy enough to make him attractive to a contender that values a second unit guard and an expiring contract and maybe those second rounders will help make a future trade complete, but selfishly, I was hoping for a little more for Korver.
Perhaps that was unrealistic on my part, hoping for a first rounder, even if near the end of the first from a championship contender.

Kyle Korver was a class act and kudos to the Cavaliers for sending him out to a contender (even if a mid-range one) and to a place Korver and family were familiar with (Korver played with the Jazz earlier in his career).
That's the type of move that spreads through the league and over the long haul can help the image of a team that has not always been known as player friendly.

This trade will be the first domino to fall in a long line of dominos between now and the next draft.
Let's hope Koby Altman does better in rebuilding than he did in retooling..

Back later with the boxing challenge.

Cavaliers Re-Sign Kyle Korver

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't have a ton of cap space,so keeping players important to them that are already by Lake Erie was of the essence.
The team without a general manager managed to do what they wanted most among their own free agents by re-signing three point bomber Kyle Korver to a three year contract worth 22 million over the term of the agreement.

Korver averaged ten points a game after being acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in mid-season,but did have his share of disappointments in the playoffs,most notably missed shots late in the pivotal game three loss in the finals to Golden State,a loss that the series turned on and sent the Cavaliers down the road to the series defeat.
That's not to say that I see Korver as a disappointment as his league leading total of 45 percent from three point country was lower than his number in Cleveland,where he shot 48 percent from behind the arc.

Korver will provide a strong outside shot that the Cavaliers will need,but I do have concern about a foot injury that saw him miss a month of his time in Cleveland.
Foot injuries don't tend to get better as players age,they often recur and I'm mildly bothered about the potential for more missed time.

There are some questions to be answered by the 36 year old Korver,but looking at the big picture-where are you going to get a similar zone buster with his range for seven million dollars a year?
Answer-Usually,you aren't and with the Cavaliers cap issues,keeping Kyle Korver was almost a mandatory signing.
All things considered,the Cavaliers kept a player that they had to keep-despite some questions.

Back soon with a Devils trade that caught me out of the blue!

Cavaliers reportedly to trade for Kyle Korver

It's not official yet,but it appears that the Cleveland Cavaliers are far from finished with tinkering with their roster as the Cavaliers are reported to have added sharpshooter Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks.

The cost is some type of combination of the cap number from the retired Mo Williams, Mike Dunleavy,who hasn't worked out since being acquired from the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland 2019 first rounder,which will have the typical 20 stipulations that most NBA trades for draft picks have for various scenarios.
The pick is the guaranteed part that the Hawks would keep with the Williams expiring contract and Dunleavy with high possibilities of being moved along to another team either in this deal or a side deal that the Hawks could make before the trade deadline.

In order for the Cavaliers to comply with the NBA rule of not trading first round picks,Cleveland needed to get their 2018 first rounder back,which they had sent to Portland in the Anderson Varejao trade last season.so Cleveland sent their 2017 1st rounder to the Blazers for the 2018 pick,so they could then trade the 2019 pick to Atlanta.
I think I'm dizzy now...

For Cleveland,this deal for the 35 year old Korver not only brings what was expected from Dunleavy,it also is a temporary fix for the absence of JR Smith ,who will miss a total of three months after breaking his thumb.
Korver is one of the best three point shooters in the league and his consistency (40 percent shooting from the distance) brings a shooter to a team that needs it.
Have to love this deal with what Kyle Korver brings to Cleveland.

The trade for Korver is just one of a few moves that the Cavaliers need to do in order to tune up for the playoff drive.
A lack of a backup veteran point guard has been a glaring need since the team allowed Matthew Dellavedova to leave via free agency and a reserve big man is a target with the season ending injury to backup Chris "Birdman" Anderson.

I'll be back to edit this in case there are any substantial changes to the trade...