Sharpshooter Kyle Korver To Be Traded to Cleveland Cavaliers

CLEVELAND, OH - Kyle Korver, the Atlanta Hawks' sharpshooting 3-point specialist, will be coming to the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources told The Vertical. Terms of the deal have not been announced, but the Hawks will reportedly receive Mike Dunleavy and a 2019 1st round pick from the Cavs.

Korver is one of the best 3-point shooters in league history and experienced something of a career renaissance during his stint in Atlanta. From 2013 to 2015, he averaged a little more than 12 points per game, the second and third highest tallies of his career.

The 35-year-old is definitely in the third act of his career and his numbers are starting to decline slightly as a result. However, he is still shooting above .400 from behind the arc this season and averaging about 10 points per game.

Korver isn't the type of player that is going to create his own shot off the dribble, but he's a deadeye coming off screens. Advanced statistics show that nearly 98 percent of Korver's made 3-pointers are the result of an assist. With LeBron James coordinating the offense, Korver can expect plenty of open 3-point opportunities to drop into his lap.

In terms of favorite spots, it's hard to pinpoint just one for Korver. However, if we look at the league's favorite 3-point shot, the corner three, we can see that during this season, Korver is taking roughly 17 percent of shots from that area. He's converting corner threes a preposterous 51 percent clip, according to basketball-reference.

With two prolific and talented drivers in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, adding another 3-point specialist to the roster will only create space for the Cavaliers to run their offense.

Dunleavy has rarely managed to see the floor this season, but his skill set is similar to Korver's. Both men were brought in for their 3-point ability and their competence on defense. Neither is great at creating their own shot off the dribble, or an exemplary wing defender, but they do enough to get by.

Korver has been a better shooter from deep throughout his career, though. Dunleavy's career average from behind the arc is .376 percent. Korver 3-point career average is .429 percent. Korver has also attempted 1,000 more threes throughout his career than Dunleavy has.

The Cavaliers were in need of additional help on the wing because shooting guard J.R. Smith is out with a broken thumb. He's expected to be sidelined for 10 to 12 weeks with that injury.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch