NBA Rumors: LA Lakers Could Trade Ivica Zubac, Moritz Wagner & Isaac Bonga For Kyle Korver, Per ‘247 Sports’
Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Kyle Korver is one of the NBA players who is expected to be moved before the February NBA trade deadline. When LeBron James left in the recent free agency, the Cavaliers revealed that they are still aiming to defend their title as Eastern Conference champions and contend for the NBA championship title. Unfortunately, based on their current performance, the Cavaliers may even have a hard time earning a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference this season.
As of now, Cleveland is no longer an ideal place to stay for Kyle Korver. The 37-year-old shooting guard will surely want to spend his remaining years in the NBA playing for a legitimate playoff contender. Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Pressbox reported that several NBA teams have already expressed interest in adding Korver to their roster, including the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers currently rank 12th in the league in three-point percentage (36 percent), per NBA.com, but they need more threat from beyond the arc in order to improve their floor spacing. Kyle Korver is not only one of the best three-point shooters in the league history, but he also has a good relationship with Lakers superstar LeBron James. It was recently revealed that James was the sole reason why Korver re-signed with the Cavaliers in the summer of 2017. The Cavaliers reportedly vowed to trade him to a contender if ever James left Cleveland for the second time.
The #Sixers are reportedly on the verge of acquiring Kyle Korver from the #Cavaliers. #HereTheyCome https://t.co/3wmF7ONUV7
— Sixers Wire (@SixersWire) November 12, 2018
To convince the Cavaliers to trade Kyle Korver to Los Angeles, the Lakers could explore a trade package including some of their young players. In a proposed trade deal by 247 Sports, the Lakers will be trading Ivica Zubac, Isaac Bonga, and Moritz Wagner to the Cavaliers for Korver. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.
“Remember Bonga and Wagner? Combine their salaries with Ivica Zubac’s, and the Lakers have just over $4.3 million in outgoing salary that isn’t particularly valuable to them. That squeaks within the 175 percent rule (taking into account the $100,000 cushion included within it) to make this trade legal. Now here’s the kicker. If the Lakers did decide to stretch Korver after the season, he would only be on their books for around $1.15 million. Bonga and Wagner, combined, will cost the Lakers over $3 million. By trading for Korver now, the Lakers would not only be improving their present roster, but saving themselves that bit of extra money later.”
The suggested trade will only be beneficial for the Lakers but also for the Cavaliers, especially if they finally realize that it’s time for them to undergo a full-scale rebuild. The potential acquisition of Ivica Zubac, Isaac Bonga, and Moritz Wagner will give them three young and promising talents who could help Collin Sexton turn the Cavaliers into a significant team in the league once again. So far, it remains unknown if the Lakers are willing to give up those assets for an aging sharpshooter, but the deal will undeniably improve their floor spacing as well as their salary cap flexibility.
