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Kyle Korver reveals fate of famous copy machine he was traded for

NBA: Brooklyn Nets at Utah Jazz Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Korver never wore a Nets uniform —although Deron Williams did photoshop him into one during a failed recruiting pitch. But still, he holds a special place in the annals of Nets lure (or is it fai-lure?)

In 2003, just 11 days after they came oh-so-close to an NBA championship, they had a full roster but two picks, both their own. In the first round, they selected Zoran Planinic, a 6’7” Croatian point guard who was to be Jason Kidd’s back-up. Then, at No. 51, they drafted Kyle Korver out of Creighton ... and promptly sold his rights to the 76ers, a deal engineered by Billy King. The price: $125,000, a number King will recite till his dying breath it was such a great deal.

Years later, after Korver had become one of the great shooters of all time, Zach Lowe reported what happened to the money. Some of it went to pay for the Nets summer league entry in Orlando, but part of it went to buy a copier (that it should be noted also could fax!)

Trading Korver for a copier was bad enough, but this weekend, Korver delivered another blow to the Nets wounded pride. He referenced it in his commencement speech at Creighton ... and revealed the fate of the asset for which he was traded.

“The 51st pick, to the New Jersey Nets,” Korver said Saturday, as he delivered the speech at Creighton, “I found out shortly afterwards that I had been traded to Philly. I’m not sure if traded is the right word.

“I was more or less sold for an undisclosed amount of money. I later found out (the Nets) used that money to pay for the entry fee for their summer league team, and with the leftover money, they bought a copy machine.

“What’s your trade value? Mine was a copy machine. But that’s okay. A couple of years ago, that copy machine broke. And I’m still playing.”

Indeed he is. Korver has hit 2,351 three-pointers in 1,174 NBA games at a 42.9 percent clip. That’s fourth all-time behind Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Stephen Curry.

“We gave away a good player for summer league,” then-Nets GM Rod Thorn told Lowe in 2014. “It was just one of those things we had to do. At least, that’s how I rationalized it.”