PHOENIX: On the second anniversary of the day he acquired Timofey Mozgov, David Griffin finished the deal for Kyle Korver. It’s a perfect illustration of how far the league has shifted in such a short amount of time.
Mozgov was brought to Cleveland for defensive purposes, because he was an enormous human being who could protect the rim. No one talks about rim protectors in this pace-and-space, small-ball era. Korver is coming to shoot and make 3-pointers. Such is the way of life in the NBA today.
To be fair, of course, Griffin obtained sharpshooter J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert two days prior to landing Mozgov, creating two trades that overhauled the Cavs’ roster on the fly and sent them charging into the NBA Finals. The Cavs are in the midst of another, albeit more subtle, flurry of changes. That’s two trades in two days, and Griffin isn’t done. He is now positioned to make at least one or two more transactions before the playoffs begin in April.
The NBA is in the midst of a scoring renaissance, and the Cavs are leading the charge. Once Smith’s thumb injury heals, coach Tyronn Lue can trot out a lineup of 3-point shooters that includes Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Smith, Korver and Kevin Love. That doesn’t even include Channing Frye, who ranks third in the league in 3-point percentage.
It isn’t clear yet when Korver will join his new team. He has 72 hours to report, but he has known this was coming since Thursday. The Cavs are hopeful he will join them Sunday night in Phoenix and practice with them Monday, lining up his debut for Tuesday at the Utah Jazz. That’s an ideal scenario, however. Korver technically doesn’t have to report until Tuesday.
Trading a future first-round pick for an aging veteran who has shown some regression certainly comes with risk, particularly since James could leave Cleveland in the summer of 2018. The Hawks could wind up with a favorable pick in a couple of years, but that can’t be the Cavs’ concern today.
Korver’s shooting numbers have slipped a bit in the past two years. He shot 49 percent from deep two years ago when the Hawks won 60 games. He’s down to 41 percent this season, which is still excellent.
James isn’t concerned about the dip in productivity, boasting Friday that Korver’s numbers will go up now because the looks he gets will be more open. He could be right. The Cavs certainly hope so.
If you believe in history, what is more concerning in all of this is the defensive regression within the Cavs. They have slipped to 13th this season in defensive rating, down from 10th last year. They are allowing 104.6 points per 100 possessions this season after allowing 102.3 last year.
That might not sound like much, but no team in the past 15 years has won a championship ranked outside the top 10 in defensive rating. The 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, who ranked 19th, were the last to do it.
Lue came to Cleveland as the defensive coordinator, and the Cavs proved last season they could defend when necessary. Maybe that will be the case again this June, although it’s a dangerous game to play. Lue called Korver, who turns 36 in March, “a good team defender” which is a polite way of saying he’s old and slow defensively.
Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was previously an assistant in Atlanta, praised the deal Friday before the Cavs beat his Nets and insisted Korver is better than people think defensively. We’ll see. In this era of explosive offense, Lue conceded earlier this season that sometimes teams have to just outscore opponents to win. That’s what the Cavs are counting on now in adding Korver.
It’s another 3-point shooter the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors must chase around the perimeter in May and June. Another weapon to space the floor and create drive-and-kick lanes for Irving and James. It will be beautiful to watch offensively, so long as they don’t give it all back on the other end.
By swapping their first-round picks with the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, giving the Blazers their first in this summer’s draft and taking back their ’18 pick, Griffin has now freed up his 2021 first-round pick to use in another deal. That’s precisely his intent.
James has made clear the Cavs need a point guard now, and that is Griffin’s next task. James said he’d like another big after that, although those are harder to come by. If Griffin uses his ’21 first-round pick on a point guard, the Cavs might have to wait until buyout season following the trade deadline to see what big men become available.
A key component to the Korver trade was the unloading of both Mike Dunleavy and Mo Williams, which frees up a roster spot while reducing the Cavs’ bloated payroll. With the luxury tax stratosphere in which they’re operating, every dollar counts. It also should add flexibility on the back end when shopping for a point guard.
The Cavs are loading up now, adding even more distance between themselves and the rest of the East. The Warriors, certainly, are also taking notice. It’s worth noting that the San Antonio Spurs and Warriors are both ranked in the top 10 in defensive rating. The Cavaliers, Raptors and Houston Rockets are not.
Then again, no team ever came back from a 3-1 deficit to win a championship until the Cavs did it. They’re used to doing things a little differently.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.