If Bonzi ends up not working out, I think the rockets should go after him. Maggette's pretty good. He could be a great 3rd scorer for this team
Yup, yup, yup. Send them Bonsi and Sura in January after Bonzi comes back and has a couple big games.
I never thought Maggette would be good for this team as he works out of the offense, but seeing as we don't really have much of an offensive flow I think he would do just fine... especially when Yao is on the bench and he has an open lane to attack the basket. The biggest problem with acquiring Maggette is finding pieces the Clippers would be interested in. You have to hope Dunleavy has some kind of an interest in Spanoulis for the future. Spanoulis, Sura and a 2007 1st (even a pick in the 20's is valued pretty highly with a good number of Marcus Williams' possibly dropping next year) would get the job done.
Maggette is averaging 25.6MPG with the Clippers. What makes you think the Rockets would play him more than that? He wants to be traded b/c he wants to be a starter on another team and play some serious minutes.
I am surprised. The Clippers had made a commitment in his last contract to keep him. He is a very nice player. Athletic like Mobley, Snyder, or Marion lite. He is probably out of our reach financially. Why has he not been playing more minutes?
a) Clippers made a commitment, but Maggette asked to be traded. b) We'd have to give up Battier to get him and I don't think he's worth it c) He plays good defense only when his man has the ball (think playground mentality) - he gets lazy when it comes to team defense (rotating, helping, etc). Quinten Ross, on the other hand is a very good defender at the swing positions and has been able to steal minutes because of that. Dunleavy has no issues pulling Maggette because of that. Evan
The Rockets have had interest in Maggette. I believe I read that before the last draft they were in talks to sending their #1 pick (and maybe Swift for cap purposes) to the Clippers for Maggette. The Clippers balked. And then of course the Rockets turned around and made a move for another veteran player in Battier. Maggette would be fine in Houston. He isnt a great "shooter" but can penetrate and create for himself which would be a plus. This team needs players like that. Personally, I would rather the Rockets see if they can address the PG spot first as to me that is a bigger hole.
Maggette would be fantastic in a Rockets UNI. I wouldn't give up Battier in that deal though. Something involving Rafer,Howard,and a pick? I don't think I'd give up Luther.
b) I don't think so. Clips want expirings and draft picks. Battier is here to stay, at least for the next couple years. He is part of the base. Can't see him being moved until he starts declining. If we sent them Bonzi and Sura as expirings along with our first rounder or a future first rounder, they may do it. Especially if we can get Bonzi to come back and play well. Bonzi and Maggette are basically the same type of player as far as attack the basket goes. If Bonzi got back into shape they could make the trade and essentially not give up anything for their playoff run this year by using Bonzi to replace Maggette's production. Then next year they have the pick and a little more salary flexibility. If Bonzi fit there, they could re-sign him for the MLE and still save a couple mil plus have the pick too. Or else just let him walk and keep the cap space. I think Denver really has a bone for Maggette. If we offered up those expirings along with a pick, it would at least force Denver to offer their first rounder along with Joe Smith to get that deal done. I think there are going to be several opportunities to add a major piece before the deadline. Just don't know if the Rox are going to be willing to pull the trigger. However, if we keep playing .667 ball and are a game or two behind the Spurs and Mavs, I think our chances are bette that Les will be willing to add some salary and pay the lux tax. However, if we are on top of everybody, there will be a lot less incentive to make any changes. c) I have wondered about Maggette's defense. But if it is like you said and he balls up when his man has the ball and slacks off on the team concept, I have no doubt that JVG will fix that. JVG is the best team concept defensive coach in this league, bar none.
Doubtful, I think he'd have to throw in a couple of Tommy John surgeries and a quadruple bypass to make it worth the Bulls' while.
Out of curiousty, have you read that somewhere? I haven't seen that mentioned, only deals for major players (Iverson, Seattle). Evan
Not much of a Battier fan...but he's able to stay on the court more than the oft injured Maggette. We're probably better off with Battier in the long run. If the trade didn't involve Battier...Maggette, Battier and McGrady all basically play the same position. Maggette would be very expensive to bring off of the bench. And him on the court moves Battier to PF and Hayes off of the court. Like mentioned prior...PG should be a better place to focus the attention.
You still opting for some kind of scoring PG in the mold of MJ? Just don't see any that are gettable that have any better contract. Would you want to take on a dude like Troy Hudson with the money he makes? I can see a very slim possiblity of becoming a facilitator in an AI deal with Minny where Minny sends MJ back here and we send out expirings and a pick to Philly to complete that deal. But that is if....Minny coughs up Foye to Philly along with another more favorable contract. Earl Watson? Good D, that's for sure. Third scorer???? Don't think so. Who else is out there at the PG position that is gettable and has a reasonable deal? I think with a rotation of TMac, Maggette, and Battier at the 2,3 positions there are plenty of minutes, especially if Hayes is getting 25 minutes or so at the 4 and Battier is playing some minutes there as well. Where are we gonna get a decent 3rd option for much less than $7 mill? We have to use at least part of the MLE to keep Hayes next year. And any decent 3rd option is going to cost the whole MLE in the offseason.
Call me crazy but I wouldn't give up Luther in any trade for Maggette. It's just that Luther works well IN OUR SYSTEM. Maggette can attack the basket and get to the foul line, but when Tracy comes back, that's his territory. We need one or two more perimeter players that can actually knock down jumpers and not go 2-10 (I'm looking at you Rafter Alston).
I hate the thought of that at the moment. He's just too good of a shooter. And it looks more and more like we are headed towards a Chicago Bulls style backcourt with McGrady running the point and a shooter in the Paxson/BJ Armstrong mold at the 1. In that scenario, Luther just becomes too valuable. And obviously Rafer and VSpan become less valuable. I think JVG is in a great quandry regarding how to structure the offense from the perimeter. McGrady is so good at facilitating that it is making it difficult for him to follow his traditional distributing point guard mentality. And Rafer's shot blows hot and cold but we need his handle and distribution if McGrady's back screws up. VSpan at this point is just too raw, with the horrid jumper to be of much value in this scenario. I think it would be nice if JVG would work on developing the offense to the second degree, using VSpan's quickness and passing ability and tremendous ability to run pick and roll with Yao to flip McGrady to a scoring capacity when VSpan is in there and let VSpan be the primary facilitator. But that is probably a year down the road. If we gave up Luther in a deal to get a 3rd scorer, I'm not sure how much we would be gaining, since Luther is so big for us with the 3 balls. It would be a whole lot more tempting to give up Luther for a primary piece like say Rashard if VSpan was further developed and Van Gundy was really going to go with a spread the floor offense letting VSpan be the primary handle and distribute, or if VSpan had a jumper. You give up Luther and we are left with Rafer, VSpan, and Lucas at the 1. None of them are true spot up shooters when McGrady facilitates. Rafer is the best spot up shooter of the bunch but he is not a natural shooter. His shot just isn't consistent out there. Despite Yao's MVP performance, our offense is still lacking distinctive style. Yao has been the real consistent base. Everything else churns and turns. McGrady at the point. McGrady at the 2. Rafer as the distributor. Rafer as the spot up shooter. Head as the 2 in a small ball linup. Head as the spot up PG. Snyder injured, VSpan in for minutes at the 1 and 2. Head has been in my opinion easily the 3rd most efficient offensive option and at times has been more efficient than McGrady offensively. I guess I would not give up Luther unless our offense was going to take on a distinctive identity and Rafer's shooting improved (just can't see that happening at this point; Rafer's shooting has basically worked down to his career averages with even a small slippage in his 2 point shooting) or VSpan develops into the starting PG and we can move Luther in a bigger deal for a primary scorer like Rashard. Moving Luther in a package for a player like Mike James is essentially a lateral move in my opinion.
