5 Teams That Should Trade For Kyle Korver
By Jon Shames
1.) Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies were finally looking like a great NBA basketball team.
Then, naturally, they got the news that could derail their entire season.
On Tuesday, the Grizzlies announced that star center Marc Gasol had a fracture in his foot, and would be out indefinitely. There is much speculation that Gasol could end up missing the remainder of the 2015-16 season.
Still, there is hope that he returns after the All-Star break. Either way, Korver should be a name that Memphis looks into before the deadline — though if Gasol is indeed going to be out the rest of the year, they will need to trade for a rim-protector as well.
Memphis has long needed outside shooting to compensate for their slow pace, but despite adding Courtney Lee, Jeff Green, Matt Barnes, and Vince Carter in the past few seasons, the Grizz have still come up short in that area. Memphis is averaging a meager 97.9 points per game and is converting threes at a 33.9 percent clip — 22nd in the NBA.
Korver — a legit and long-established three-point specialist — would be a huge perimeter boost for a team that will now be more reliant on perimeter play than ever before.
The high-low game between Gasol and Randolph was key for the Grizzlies, but the scoring burden will now fall to wing players, notably Green and Mike Conley, during Gasol’s absence. Memphis is an isolation-heavy team that also runs a lot of pick-and-roll, and Korver’s impact is ever-present in both of these sets.
Running is something Korver does exceptionally well, and his movement around the perimeter during the Grizzlies post-up sets would be key as a bailout option, and give defenses one more variable to account for.
Having a lights-out guy like Korver would also help to speed up the offense a bit more, a direction in which the Grizzlies will be forced to travel, if Gasol is, indeed, going to miss extended time.
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In this deal, Atlanta sheds the multi-year commitment for Korver and absorbs the expiring deal of Barnes, as well as a valuable prospect in Jordan Adams. Adams, 21, hasn’t found a niche in the veteran-heavy Grizzlies lineup, but Atlanta has done an exceptional job at developing wing scorers, most recently Kent Bazemore, and could make the most of Adams’ high upside as a scorer.
The Grizzlies could do themselves a favor by pushing for Korver. The window is closing for this squad, and Korver is one piece that could be a difference maker.