5 Teams That Should Trade For Kyle Korver
By Jon Shames
3.) Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are another team that is absolutely starved on the offensive end, and — surprise, surprise — much of that comes from a lack of shooting. The Heat are actually seventh in field goal percentage, but attempt the fewest shots per game in the entire NBA.
In the modern basketball world, a slow-paced offense simply cannot survive without outside shooting (see: Grizzlies, Memphis).
The Heat rank 28th in three-point percentage, and 26th in made three-pointers per game. They are five games above the .500 mark, but much like the rest of the East, have been horrendously inconsistent, and their shoddy offense has been behind all of that.
The Heat score just 96 points per game, which puts them right between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philidelphia 76ers — the worst offensive team in the league. Vintage Dwyane Wade has done what he can to keep the Heat’s offense chugging, but Miami goes through major scoring droughts that even their excellent defense has a hard time compensating for.
Bringing in Korver would be an ideal option for this club. In this scenario, a Miami package for Korver and Tim Hardaway Jr. includes Luol Deng and his expiring $10 million contract, and Tyler Johnson, a high-upside guard who was recently lost to a shoulder injury, and may end up missing the playoffs because of it.
The Heat would instantly upgrade their offense by adding Korver. Miami needs both Goran Dragic and Wade to keep getting into the paint, but a lack of perimeter shooting serves as a major hindrance for doing such.
In pick and roll sets, Korver — rather than Deng — playing on the opposite wing would really open up the lane for both the screener and the ball-handler, and in pick-and-pop sets with Chris Bosh, Korver could push down to the corner and open up left-handed drives for Bosh.
Should Deng be traded, you can expect Miami’s second-ranked defense to take a bit of a hit. Still, having Korver would do wonders for the Heat’s offense, an area in which they absolutely need to improve if they want any shot of contending in Dwyane Wade’s final years.
Next: No. 2