Kyle Korver may be the first free agent domino to drop for the Brooklyn Nets. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Korver to Brooklyn is “in the bag”:
Says one rival GM with interest in one of this summer's most coveted shooters: "Hearing Korver to Brooklyn is in the bag"
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 1, 2013
Reports connected Korver to the Nets earlier this week, and if Deron Williams’s recruiting voice towards Kyle’s brother has any clout, it may happen soon:
NETS RT @KalebKorver: Too excited for my (possibly) new favorite NBA team. #NBAFreeAgency @KyleKorver @KlayKorver @KirkKorver
— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) July 1, 2013
Williams later Instagrammed this picture, with the caption “What do u guys think? Perfect match #bknets #brooklyn”:
Korver is a three-point marksman in a league that’s increasingly putting a premium on three-point shooting. His career three-point percentage of 41.9% is 12th on the all-time list. Korver shot 45.7% on 414 attempts last season.
Korver hasn’t made less than $4 million per year since the 2005-06 season, and the most the Nets can offer him is likely what he’ll command — their mini mid-level exception, a three-year, $10 million contract starting at $3.2 million per year. If he’s really interested in teaming with Williams and the Nets, that slight pay cut should be acceptable.
The mini mid-level exception is a once-per-offseason exception, and if they elect to use it on Korver, they wouldn’t be able to use it anywhere else. There were rumors that they would offer the exception to their Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic, which would help pay his European club’ buyout (reportedly $2 million), and they could’ve used it to sign Andray Blatche (who will likely command more on the open market than the league minimum).
If the Nets don’t elect to use their mid-level exception on Korver, the most they could offer him is the veteran’s minimum, worth approximately $1.3 million for Korver. That would be a significant pay cut for a player that’s made over $20 million in the last four years.
