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Now a former member of the Cavs, 16-year veteran Kyle Korver is waving goodbye to the city of Cleveland.
Though the trade is not yet finalized, Korver is expected to be shipped to the Utah Jazz. Despite this, he insisted that he is grateful to the organization as per Joe Vardon of the Athletic.
“I’m thankful that Koby (Altman) and management were upfront and mindful of my family through this process and are sending us to a great city and organization,” Korver told The Athletic on Wednesday.
“We have lots of friendships there, which will soften the landing,” Korver added.
“I think just overall I’m really grateful for my time in Cleveland,” Korver said. “So many amazing opportunities. Incredible teammates. Relationships that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. The fans have really embraced me and my family. I’ve never heard ‘thank you’ so many times from fans, even after harder moments.
“Cleveland fans are who you want to play for.
The Jazz will send two first-round picks and Alec Burks in exchange for the Creighton product.
Korver has played for the Cavaliers since 2017 and was a vital piece in the team's offense coming off the bench. He was instrumental in the Cavs' two trips to the NBA Finals.
In three seasons with Cleveland, he averaged 9.3 points per game, mostly scoring his points from jumpers and three-point shots.
While with Cleveland Korver sank 49 percent of his three-pointers in 2017. He was also impressive last season as he made 44 percent of his attempts from long-range.
Known as one of the best three-point shooters in history, Korver is expected to ignite the Utah's offense once he makes his return there. Utah is currently struggling with a 10-12 record, which is 13th in the Western Conference. Donovan Mitchell is yet to find his rhythm and is looking for support.
The Western Conference is a place staked with a lot of good teams, and being competitive is a must for teams if they want to advance in the next round. Korver's ability to score can be an asset that his new teams need if they want to start winning.
The season is lost for the Cleveland Cavaliers and they must rely again on the draft as they are a rebuilding team once again. Getting a couple of picks for Korver isn't a bad deal either.
