When Kyle Korver got traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he got a text message from his new coach, Tyronn Lue.
“He texted me that he was excited about pulling out his old Ray Allen plays,” Korver explained in January after a win over the Sacramento Kings. “He’s got a ton of them.”
It’s the same stuff that Lue ran for Allen when they were both employed by the Boston Celtics, Lue as director of basketball development and Allen as a member of the Three Amigos. It’s also the same stuff that Lue ran for J.J. Redick as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. Both Allen and Redick are elite 3-point shooters, but they’re more than catch-and-shoot guys. Both run laps around defenses, and make a living by slithering around off-ball screens and popping out of the gears of offense for open looks at the basket.
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So does Korver, one of the most prestigious 3-point shooters in NBA history, who thrived in Atlanta’s motion offense for four-and-a-half seasons before being acquired by the Cavaliers for a first-round pick in January. The Cavaliers do not run the same offense as Atlanta. They run more set plays. It’s how to best leverage LeBron James’ unique playmaking talents. “LeBron is so good at seeing every option of every play,” Korver said.
Korver understandably needs time to find his groove with the Cavaliers. He was the poster boy of Atlanta’s equal opportunity offense, and has never played with so many ball-dominant players like James, or new Cavaliers teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. He got off the plane and joined the Cavaliers not in Cleveland, but on a road trip. Before ever getting a full practice in, Korver took the court. He missed the first five 3-point shots he attempted wearing a Cavaliers jersey.
The Cavaliers don’t practice a lot. They can’t. They are a veteran team that needs to save its gas for game time. “We have an older team so we can’t practice like that. It would be pointless. Game is our practice,” said teammate Channing Frye.
Before the team’s game against the Kings, Korver spent the plane ride from Portland to Sacramento watching film and had an opportunity to run through a 20-minute shootaround. In the game, not only did he finally make the first 3-pointer of his Cavaliers career, he made four of the six he attempted, scoring 18 points in Cleveland’s 120-108 win.
“I still didn’t know what was going on half the time, but I knew what was going on half the time,” Korver laughed after the game. “So hopefully it just keeps on getting better, but it was nice to know more of what was happening.”
Since then, Korver is shooting 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from 3-point range playing mostly with the second unit and some combination of two of the Big Three. However, the Cavaliers have lost six of nine games since acquiring Korver. It’s not the sharpshooter’s fault — the team is dealing with injuries, depth issues and the tiresome drone of a long NBA season — but it speaks to how both player and team need time to get used to each other. This isn’t new for the Cavaliers. When they acquired Frye at last season’s trade deadline, they lost three of their next four games.
“That just takes time, man,” said Frye. “Whenever someone goes out or comes in, it’s weird to kind of get your rhythm. What works? How much do I work out? Who am I going in with? When am I going in? What are the plays I’m going to play?”
Frye, a big man who, like Korver, is known for his perimeter shooting prowess, missed 11 of his first 16 3-pointers after joining the Cavaliers. But Frye ended up playing a valuable role for the eventual NBA champions.
“I am who I am as a 3-point shooter, floor spacer, but everybody’s roles are constantly being adjusted. That’s what makes us a difficult team to play, because [the coaches are] asking us to do more than just one thing,” Frye explained. “I think when Kyle really gets used to being here we’re going to ask him not to just be a shooter, but to continue doing his movement, and continue to help us on D.”
It will be a process. Lue has mixed up his lineups and the players he partners with Korver, searching for the best amalgamation of parts. Korver has already played with 12 different players, the majority of his minutes coming with James on the floor. Cleveland’s strategy is to surround James and Irving with elite shooting so they can get to the rim with ease. It’s how the Cavaliers were able to topple the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
“Floor spacing is huge, it’s what Golden State’s had success with, it’s what San Antonio’s had success with. You look at successful offenses — you look at the triangle — it’s all based on spacing and guys hitting shots,” Frye said. “We have guys that can do multi-faceted things but, if you can’t make a jumper, it’s just pointless. Teams are going to pack the paint and force you to do what you can’t do.”
James Jones, the 36-year-old veteran who has been nicknamed “Champ” by his Cavaliers teammates, saw the addition of Frye last season and the addition of Korver this season. He was also on the Miami Heat with James when they signed Allen in 2012. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see the similarities between Korver and Allen.
“They’re going to shoot tough shots and they’re going to make tough shots, and that’s what makes them different from a lot of other shooters,” Jones said. “Those guys are fearless. They’re not going to turn down a look just because it’s contested.”
Fearless. Just as Allen was in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals between the Heat and San Antonio Spurs, when he sank a corner 3-pointer in the final seconds to tie the game and save Miami’s season.
The similarities between Korver and Allen’s games are clear, but there are also parallels in how they joined championship teams in their late 30s. The Heat signed Allen in 2012, after their “Big Three” won their first NBA title and two years removed from assembling its James-led trio. The Cavaliers traded for Korver the season after winning its first NBA title, two years after assembling its own triple-threat of superstars.
Circumstantial as it is, with a date with the Warriors almost unavoidably down the road, one could imagine Korver making a similar impact for his new team.
“Been fun to watch up to this point,” Korver said of the Cavaliers’ rivalry with the Warriors. “There’s a lot of excitement around these games, and so it’ll be fun to be a part of.”
*****
Days after the Cavaliers traded for Korver, James made it known that he didn’t think the acquisition was enough.
“We’re not better than last year,” James said, via ESPN, “from a personnel standpoint.”
“We need a f—ing playmaker.”
Cleveland is without Matthew Dellavedova this season after its former backup point guard signed a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer. Without Dellavedova, the Cavaliers are playing DeAndre Liggins, who spent most of the last three years in the NBA Developmental League, as Irving’s backup.
Irving is a point guard in title only. He doesn’t do the normal initiating of offense that a point guard typically does. That responsibility lies with James, who is now averaging the most minutes per game in the league at 32-years-old. The concern is that he will be worn out for a date with Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Korver is not a playmaker. He’s not going to dribble-drive, kick out or even create his own shot with the ball in his hands. Korver needs players like James to create those shots for him. If the Cavaliers add another creator, it will replace what was lost from a championship team, and will bolster Korver’s impact.
The addition of Korver isn’t as significant as Kevin Durant joining the Warriors, but it is incremental to last year’s Cavaliers. It makes them better. The Cavaliers have entered an arms race, and they started with Korver’s smooth 3-point stroke.
All statistics and records current through Jan. 25 unless otherwise noted.