Milwaukee Bucks: Kyle Korver should return for another season
By Adam McGee
Kyle Korver is not getting any younger, but his performances for the Milwaukee Bucks suggest he should return for at least one more season.
Since the Milwaukee Bucks last took to the court on March 9 against the Denver Nuggets, the squad’s most senior player has celebrated his birthday.
Now 39 years old, Kyle Korver has achieved a level of longevity in his career that most players can only dream of.
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Korver and LeBron James are the only players from the 2003 NBA Draft that are still in the league today. In Korver’s case, that feat is even more impressive considering that, unlike James who jumped straight from high school, he had already completed a full four-year stint playing college ball for Creighton too.
That makes Korver a true outlier to begin with, but having considered retirement last offseason, his production this season leaves more than enough to suggest he may not be done yet either.
The Bucks certainly took a diligent and active approach in managing Korver’s minutes over the course of the current campaign, but with 50 games played before the season’s suspension, averaging 16.7 minutes per contest, the evidence suggests that plan was proving effective for the veteran.
Beyond simply getting on the court and logging his fair share of minutes, Korver was producing at an incredibly impressive level too, though.
One of the game’s all-time greatest shooters, Korver has knocked down an impressive 41.5 percent of his three-point attempts this season, while attempting 4.1 triples per contest.
That equates to a seamless fit within Milwaukee’s system, and a perfect complement alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. With an already strong relationship with Mike Budenholzer from their time with the Atlanta Hawks, Korver has since developed great camaraderie with his Bucks teammates and really stepped up into a mentor role on the roster.
On the whole, Korver’s play would already have suggested he had plenty left in the tank to continue beyond the current campaign, but what could prove to be the final game of his season provided something of an exclamation mark on that front too.
Against the Nuggets, with Coach Bud shaking up the Bucks’ lineup dramatically, Korver stepped up to lead a spirited effort from the Bucks with 23 points on 5-of-11 shooting from deep.
Obviously, it remains uncertain as to just how long it could be before the NBA returns to action, and then whether that return will be to finish the current campaign or to start a new one. If the current hiatus really stretches out, it could possibly reach a point where the clock ticks down for Korver in moments when he doesn’t even have a chance to be on the court.
How his body reacts to the down time will certainly be a question mark, but based on how he’s played in his first season with the Bucks, it certainly seems plausible for Korver to play into his 40th birthday season. Beyond that, with his contributions this year, there’s every reason why the Bucks would want him to do so too.