Trade season has begun for the Atlanta Hawks, well ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 23 trade deadline. And despite rumors, veteran All-Star forward Paul Millsap might not be the player on the move, right now.The Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly finalizing a deal that will send veteran shooter Kyle Korver to Cleveland for a protected first-round Draft pick, as first reported by The Vertical.
Vertical Sources with @ShamsCharania: Atlanta is finalizing a deal to send guard Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 6, 2017
Cavaliers veteran Mike Dunleavy is also expected to be a part of the deal, though he’ll likely be dealt to a third team.
Korver would give the Cavaliers a veteran shooter to compensate for the loss of J.R. Smith, who is out for three months with a broken thumb.
Korver was one of four All-Stars for a 60-win Hawks team that fell to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals in 2015. Korver and Millsap are the final two members of that starting unit still with the Hawks.
DeMarre Carroll left for Toronto via free agency in the summer of 2015. Jeff Teague was traded to Indiana last summer and Al Horford left for Boston via free agency in July. Korver is in the final year of his contract, as is Millsap.
The prospect of potentially losing even more veteran talent without compensation has forced the Hawks to explore their trade options ahead of next month’s trade deadline.
Millsap, Thabo Sefolosha and Tim Hardaway Jr. have all been mentioned as players who could be on the move as the Hawks attempt to reconstitute their roster around Dennis Schroder, Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore, players who all signed new deals with the team over the summer.
