FROM ESPN DAILY DIME: " A few executives I've surveyed are convinced that the Clippers' long-range plan calls for trading Corey Maggette to a team with salary-cap room (such as Atlanta or Chicago) for the best draft pick they can get. Their thinking: Maggette's contract dropping off the books would convince owner Donald T. Sterling to spend what it takes to re-sign Sam Cassell and Vladimir Radmanovic. " His injury problems aside, this guy would add that athleticism and shooting to our swing positions. He's a bit of a black hole, but has been playing much more team oriented ball for the clippers since he came back and is a good shooter. If they want a draft pick and need a backup shooting guard to Cuttino, then our Draft Pick plus Luther Head might get it done. Sterling loves cheap draft players and their team would look like: Kaman Brand Radman Ross Carney Mobley Head Livingston Cassell and we'd look like: Yao Mutombo Howard Swift Maggette Bowen T-Mac Wesley Alston Spanoulis
I think we'd be giving up too much in that trade. I'd rather just have Carney and head. Maggette would be a great pickup though if we can get him for less than that.
I think Maggette would be awesome to nab, but I agree that Head and our pick are too much to give up. Unless the draft really doesn't fall our way at all, I don't wanna give up that pick. We should be building around some youth instead of giving up youth for injury prone players,....we have enough of those as it is.
They wouldn't need a backup if they got a high pick. They could use that lottery pick for a Carney and have the kid on rookie scale deal. Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is how we could get in the middle of that deal. If they are trying to dump salary, which given Sterlings reputation is undoubtedly the case, then they just want a pick back. We couldn't do a deal straight up for him, there would have to be a 3rd team involved that we could dump salary on such as Atl, Charlotte, Chicago, etc. The problem is what salary do we have that we could send one of those teams that they would want. You're gonna have to send our pick as replacement for the pick they lost, plus the player, probably Stro, and maybe even another pick to entice some below the cap team to pick up a bunch of salary. I think that is too much. We need to be able to find 2 starters this summer, a SG and a PF. If we trade both our pick and Stro for one starter, it is going to be difficult to acquire any kind of upgrade at the PF spot. And I for one can't stand the thought of going through another season watching Howard get toasted night after night. The best we could hope for if they wanted to dump him for a pick is for them to dump him to Atl and then Atl send us Childress for our pick straight up. I think there is another deal that we could get involved in though for Maggette. I think there is the chance that the Clippers forego Vlad Rad and instead dump Maggette for Mike Dunleavy, Jr. Dunleavy would give them Vlad Rad's size and outside shot, in addition to being able to operate as another pseudo slasher/passer. If I were the Clippers and the money were an issue, I'd look at Dunleavy on the floor as a combo of Maggette and Vlad Rad. Dunleavy makes approximately the same money as Maggette and they pick up Vlad's outside shooting, not to mention, he is coach's son. If the Clippers were indeed interested in something like this, we could possibly get involved in a 3 way deal with somebody like Golden State, sending them the pick and Howard. Golden State is looking to get out of some of their salary. This would help them unload Dunleavy and get a young player in return.
I think we should be spending our energy in trying to figure out a way to nab Roy in this upcoming draft.
hes a great player, and if we could have him for that price, i think hes well worth it, but he hasnt been much of his shooter throughout his career has he? thats one of our most obvious and glaring weaknesses
We don't have a trade exception big enough to absorb Maggette, and I doubt if Sterling would take salary from us in return. He wants to save money to sign Rad and Cassell.
He's okay from outside, a whole lot better than Bogans but not as good as Wesley shooting the 3 ball. We would have to adjust the offense a little bit. You wouldn't want Corey just spotting up at the 3 point line. Corey is at his best going to the bucket and finishing. He can take it to the hole better than Bogans and he is great finisher. Bogans isn't. And he is terrific at drawing fouls. Between him, Yao, and McGrady, we should be in the bonus every quarter at the 6 minute mark, if McGrady shows any kind of aggression at all. He would also give McGrady the opportunity to work from the top, taking open 3 point shots or midrange shots while he is breaking down the defense with the drives. The bottom line is if you look at any significant scorer at the SG spot and plug them into our lineup, we are going to be very, very good offensively. Just imagine putting Maggette into our lineup and also adding Van Gundy's "range shooting PF". You have all 4 spread around the arc with Yao down low, plenty of spacing, then you penetrate with either Rafer or Corey or you collapse the D by tossing it to Yao. It turns us into a killer offensive unit.
Only if we are committed to starting him and he is able to put up 17 ppg on efficient shooting and he can move fast enough to help our perimeter defense.
Maggette would only come to Houston in a 3-team trade, and I don't see that teams with cap room (i.e., 3rd teams) would want him (Chicago needs a commanding presence in exchange for a high draft pick; Atlanta doesn't need him [unless they just trade one of their 15 SG/SF types and keep their pick]; Charlotte's too cheap, etc). Better to just draft Roy, which is unlikely, or Mardy Collins (better D, better passing, not as good free throw shooting).
Send them Dike(1 year left), Lampe(1 year team option left), Head, Bowen(1 year player option) and a 1st rounder next year for Maggotty(or this year's 2nd if they want). They can just cut all the bums and end up with only having to pay for one year's worth of Magg's contract. doubt sterling would bite, but whatever.
Long-time reader of this board but have yet to be a consistent poster, but I wanted to put my two-cents on Maggette. While I agree that getting a third scorer is a necessity this coming off-season along with dumping Juwan Howard (a topic for another post), I don't think Corey Maggette is that player. Living in LA, I have had the chance to see Maggette play a lot from his days as one of the two lone guns along with Brand the Clippers had prior to this season to now when the Clips have a more complete team. Maggette is a scorer, but I don't think he's a complimentary scorer i.e. he is not a spot-up 3-point shooter who can receive drive and dish passes from T-mac or Yao, nor is he a Shawn Marion-type who can score with second-chance points and garbage points. While he can be like Marion, he hasn't done so in the 5-6 years he's been in the league nor has he shown a willingness to do so. From what I've seen, he's a player who likes to handle the ball and go one-on-one. I think he's a player who's at his best being a slasher but thinks he's a T-mac/Kobe superstar with the obligatory 15-20 shots per game. I swear every time he touches the call 8 times out of 10 he's going to shoot the ball. The man is a ball hog pure and simple, a trait that hurt his team in their Game 3 loss against the Nuggets when he ended up taking the majority of the shots down the stretch while Cassell, the Clips' designated clutch player, was on the floor. Granted, Maggette's weaknesses haven't cost the team a series (the Clips are so well-balanced that they can compensate for them), but they could cost a less talented team i.e. the Rockets. That's why I think the Clips were working hard to ship Maggette for Artest, a more well-rounded player who can defend and do other things besides looking for his shot. I think we as Rockets aficionados are all looking for a player who can take the scoring burden off Yao and T-Mac but also make plays for our other players when either superstar is off the floor (foul trouble, injury, etc.). Without knowing how V-Span's game will translate to the NBA nor who our draft pick will be, my vote is for Speedy Claxton, a proven complementary scorer who can penetrate, pass, and score from the outside. I admit Speedy is not big nor has been the most durable player over the last few years, but he's been a good player on good teams (this year's New Orleans team and the Spurs championship team from a couple seasons back) who can perform in the clutch. He combines the playmaking ability of Rafer and the scoring of Mike James, not as good as a 3-point shooter but better than Maggette. Perhaps, we bring him off the bench as instant offense who can elevate our other bench players by providing them with scoring opportunities. This way, players like Swift, Bogans, Head, and Frahm (assuming they all come back) who depend on playmakers like T-mac, Yao, and Rafer aren't entirely wasted. Plus, Claxton is another point guard who can spell Rafer (or replace him in the starting line-up). While I concede Claxton isn't ideal (he can't defend against bigger two's like Kobe and Stackhouse), we can find a big two in this upcoming draft who can spell T-Mac and pursue Claxton. I think acquiring Claxton via free agency will help the Rockets in more ways than getting Maggette via trade.
Speaking of Mobley and Head, I predict Cat will show up at the beginning of next year with a freshly shaved scalp. Dude is losing hair faster than Lendale White was dropping in the draft. Receeding hairline* in front and a growing bald spot in the back. He's already past the Rogaine stage. *Or as Terry Porter once called it, a "receiving hairline."
He would command too much and we have nothing close to give unless we get a good pick this year. In that case, hell, throw in our 2nd's for this year also.
I understand where you are coming from. I can see the possibilities of Maggette shooting upon touch. But the last couple games he seems to have been very good on the floor with both Cassell and Mobley. But Mobley had that same rap before Van Gundy. I tend to think players become more selfish when they realize they don't have much talent around them and they don't trust their teammates while the better players become less selfish when they are put on teams with other proven star and superstar players. I think part of Maggette's problem earlier in the year stemmed from the fact that he was injured and the team was doing so well, then they brought in Vlad Rad while he was injured. When he came back, he was wanting to re-establish his spot in the rotation and get his minutes back. So, I tend to give him a little slack for all that including prior years when he and Elton WERE the offense. I like Claxton too, but not as our starting SG and 3rd option. We've got to have a guy that can put up 17 AND defend other swingmen. Those small lineups are just gimmicks that only work for short periods of time against certain teams that do not have the flexibility to match up small. We do not want to go into the playoffs and expect that we can run up and down with a small backcourt. It just doesn't work. Kinda like the run and shoot offense in football. Eventually you get nailed. You may throw it up and down the field on teams with no pass rush but eventually the big boys are gonna kill it.
