The Cleveland Cavaliers remain one of the elite teams in the NBA and the class of the Eastern Conference. Fresh off an NBA championship victory, LeBron James and company look to be in the perfect position to repeat despite multiple other contenders adding talent. However, the Cavs have decided to join the trend as in the past week, they became even scarier, pulling off a trade that resulted in the acquisition of sharpshooter Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks.
Expected to take on a role as an immediate perimeter threat off the bench, Cavaliers captain LeBron had some advice for the veteran. Following from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
LeBron on Korver: " The first thing I told him … was, ‘If you want to fit in, shoot the ball every time you get it.’"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 10, 2017
Those words James shared with his new teammate are a shooter’s dream. Korver, being one of the best marksmen possibly in the history of the NBA, hearing that he has permission to launch whenever he see fit must be exactly what he wanted to hear.
Playing alongside James has paid dividends and increased the percentages of just about every shooter he’s ever played with. It’s well known across the NBA world that surrounding LeBron with excellent shooters is when he’s at his most dangerous. His ability to find and accurately deliver laser passes to spotted up snipers on the wing is what truly elevates him as one of the best all-around players of all time.
Though Korver’s production has slowed down this year, the crafty 35-year-old veteran is still averaging 9.5 points per game and shooting nearly 41 percent from beyond the arc.
The Cavs have been hit by the injury bug recently as star point guard Kyrie Irving was battling a banged up hamstring last week and wing J.R. Smith is expected to be out for an extended period of time with a broken thumb. With James and the Cavs adding another shooter to their already talented roster and having enough confidence in him to give him the green light, Cleveland continues to become more and more dangerous.
