Chicago Bulls trade Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks – NBA News
In an unexpected move, the Chicago Bulls have traded back up forward Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks, ending Korver’s two year association with the basketball club.
Both teams needed the Minnesota Timberwolves to facilitate the deal, which will give the Bulls either a second round draft pick and player exception, or a player with a relatively small contract from the Wolves.
“It's a bit of a bummer for sure. I love Chicago. I loved putting on a Bulls uniform. & What do you do? We learned this is a business and teams are going to make business decisions. & I'm gonna go to Atlanta and try and go out
there and play well,” said Korver while talking to ESPN 1000's "Chicago's GameNight" on Friday.
The Bulls have another important decision to make in the coming days, with the Houston Rockets having offered Bulls backup centre Omer Asik a three year contract worth $25 million. Asik is a restricted free agent which means the
Bulls get to match the offer, but they have not yet stated whether they are going to match or not. The Bulls are already tight on cap space and taking up another big contract would not be a wise decision for them at this point.
The Bulls have made some considerable changes to the roster that finished tied for the best record in the league this past season. They let go guards C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer, and decided to bring back guard Kirk Hinrich for
a two year deal worth $6 million. Now they have traded Korver and it is unlikely that they will match the Rockets offer for Asik.
Korver was signed as a free agent from Utah in 2010 and played two seasons with the Bulls. He averaged 8.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the last season, and was very effective off the bench for the Bulls. His ability
to hit three pointers was especially helpful to the Bulls, as he averaged 43.5% from the distance over the previous season.
Despite the Bulls making significant changes in their roster for next season and with Derrick Rose scheduled to miss a chunk of next season, Korver believes the Bulls will still be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
"They still got a great core. You got some really good players on the team. So now, maybe, they aren't going to be quite as deep as we were the past couple years. & I thought signing (Hinrich) was a really good move for them,”
said Korver.
However, the swingman will not be there to experience the next season in the Windy City.
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