After trade from Hawks, Korver finds himself in NBA Finals

Cleveland Cavaliers (from left) Kevin Love, LeBron James, Kyle Korver and Iman Shumpert celebrate a basket during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, on May 25, 2017, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Cleveland Cavaliers (from left) Kevin Love, LeBron James, Kyle Korver and Iman Shumpert celebrate a basket during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, on May 25, 2017, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Kyle Korver watched last season’s NBA Finals from his couch.

Now, after a midseason trade from the Hawks, he will make his first appearance in the championship series.

The Hawks traded the sharp-shooting guard to the Cavaliers in January, a move that ended his four-plus year career in Atlanta and returned a first-round pick. Once the shock of the move subsided, Korver thought there was a real possibility that he wouldn’t be watching from his living room again. The Cavaliers play the Warriors in the NBA Finals, which begin tonight with Game 1.

“Yeah, for sure, having lost to Cleveland the last couple years,” Korver told reporters when asked of playing in the finals at media day Wednesday. “It was strange in the beginning to be here and be on this team. Well, then we started losing games and I wasn’t sure (laughing). We weren’t playing defense for about two weeks. But I think deep down we all believed that when the time was right, the guys would turn it on.”

The Cavaliers did lose to the Hawks twice in the final week of the regular season. However, the Cavaliers have breezed through the postseason with a 12-1 record and the Hawks were eliminated in the first round.

In 35 games with the Cavaliers, Korver averaged 10.7 points in 24.5 minutes. He had a .485 (97 of 200) 3-point field-goal percentage. With the Hawks, he had a .409 (65 of 159) percentage. Korver led the NBA for the fourth time his career with a .451 3-point percentage between the Hawks and Cavaliers.

Korver needed some time to adjust to the Cavaliers’ style of play. However, one thing remained a constant — shoot the basketball. Korver said LeBron James made it clear that is what he expected.

“That’s the first thing he told me: You get the ball, just shoot it,” Korver told reporters about James. “If you’re open at all, just shoot it. I don’t care if you miss it, I just want you to shoot it. To have that guy have confidence in you, it really helps.”