Acquiring Kyle Korver isn’t enough for LeBron James.
He still wants the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade for a point guard.
From ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
As the Cleveland Cavaliers finalize a deal to acquire sharpshooter Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, LeBron James declared that the work is not done for the defending champions.
“We still got a couple more things we need to do,” James said at Cavs shootaround Friday morning in preparation for their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. “We got to get a point guard.”
It was a continuation of the point guard drum James was beating after the Cavs lost to Chicago on Wednesday.
“Yeah, it’s my last time saying it,” James said. “We need a point guard.”
McMenamin notes that the Cavaliers could chase Norris Cole, Jarrett Jack or Mario Chalmers. Cleveland is believed to be monitoring Rajon Rondo’s situation with the Chicago Bulls as well.
James’ plea—demand?—is not unreasonable. The Cavaliers don’t really have a backup point guard. Kay Felder is a 5’9″ rookie, and Jordan McRae doesn’t really fit the bill. Seldom does Cleveland play without both Kyrie Irving and James, their two floor generals, but it’s good to have variation and depth.
Unless the Cavaliers are looking to move Iman Shumpert, though, they don’t have much to offer. And Korver fills more of what J.R. Smith, who remains sidelined after having surgery on the thumb of his shooting, does than Shumpert.
Cleveland still has all of its trade exceptions—most notably the $9.6 million one from last season’s Anderson Varejao deal. That exception will allow the team to take back an impact player without sending back any salary in return. But that player has to be available, and teams are’t just giving away quality point guards for free.
It’s more likely the Cavaliers end up acquiring a Marcelo Huertas-type player, though not him specifically—a floor general buried on his team’s bench who might garner sympathy from his organization for said situation and be subsequently dealt without seeking compensation.
