The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly won the race to sign veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver, as the 38-year-old will re-team with Mike Budenholzer.
One of the last significant dominoes of the Milwaukee Bucks’ offseason has reportedly fallen on Saturday morning, undoubtedly leading to plenty of excitement for the team’s fans.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks have come to terms on a one-year deal with veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver, beating out competition from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Free agent Kyle Korver has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, agent Jeff Schwartz of @excelsm tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2019
Korver was a core piece of Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer’s 60-win season with the Atlanta Hawks in 2015 and, according to Wojnarowski, the chance to reunite with the coach who helped him to earn the sole All-Star appearance of his career ultimately proved to be a key factor in the former Creighton Bluejay’s decision.
Korver had a tough decision between Sixers and Bucks but relationship and history with Mike Budenholzer certainly played a major factor in Korver’s choice. https://t.co/94WinjWJ38
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2019
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In adding Korver, even in the definite twilight of his career, the Bucks will now have one of the greatest three-point shooters in the history of the game at their disposal. Most exciting in that equation, Korver will almost certainly possess greater gravity as a shooter than any other player Giannis Antetokounmpo has had the luxury of playing alongside.
For a Bucks team that prided itself on throwing up a high volume of three-point attempts last season, Korver makes for a seamless fit and should allow Budenholzer to integrate more motion and off-ball screens into the Bucks’ offense than were often apparent last season. Simultaneously, the threat he poses should also lead to higher quality looks for teammates.
Over his career to date, Korver has made 2,351 triples, leaving him trailing only Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Stephen Curry on the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers leaderboard.
Perhaps even more impressive is Korver’s 42.9 percent from deep on 4.7 attempts per game over the course of his 16 seasons in the NBA.
There will be concerns over Korver’s age, and they will certainly manifest themselves on the defensive side of the floor where the Bucks will have to be wary of protecting him, but making 39.7 percent of his 5.0 three-point attempts last season leaves plenty of reason to believe that Korver could still help to supercharge Milwaukee’s offense.
According to Wojnarowski, Korver was “the most pursued player left on the market“, meaning it’s certainly something of a coup for the Bucks to land him.
Now, the next question is what happens with the Bucks’ final roster spot. With Frank Mason III being signed to a two-way, is Bonzie Colson set to be converted to an NBA contract, could J.R. Smith be next to sign after his recent visit to Milwaukee, or will there be another plan in the works?
The final pieces of the puzzle will undoubtedly fall into place very soon, but for now the Bucks can be very happy with adding Korver into the mix.