link COREY MAGGETTE For all the angst above, it's only fair to counter with some praise for Sterling. He's earned it after consenting to pay $42 million over five years to Cuttino Mobley last summer and his willingness to sanction a January trade for Ron Artest that only fell through when Indiana backed out over concerns about Maggette's long-term health. That's why a handful of executives I've surveyed about the Clips expect Cassell to be back and expect the Dunleavy situation to be sorted out in spite of all the stated fears. More uncertainty surrounds the future of Maggette, who is widely considered a lock to be moved after he was so nearly dealt already. As covered in a May 4 playoff Daily Dime, one theory I keep hearing is that the Clips will try to trade Maggette to a team with salary-cap room for the best draft pick they can get. They wouldn't be taking back any significant salary in that scenario, thereby making Sterling more apt to spend on Cassell and fellow free agent Vladimir Radmanovic. Don't forget, furthermore, that center Chris Kaman is eligible for a contract extension this summer as well, as one of the top stars from a 2003 draft class headlined by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh. Livingston is then eligible for an extension in the summer of 2007. The Clippers, though, scoff at the suggestion that they would dump Maggette for a pick just to rid their books of the three years and nearly $24 million left on Maggette's contract. They say there's no way Sterling would force Baylor and Dunleavy to part with an asset like Maggette without getting more back. They insist that Maggette won't be swapped for anything less than a player who can make the rotation and contribute. But this is still Sterling. These might be the new Clips, but he wants them to operate right around the league's salary cap, which was $49.5 million this season. So they're two wins away from the conference finals with a payroll of just under $51 million, which puts L.A. in the league's bottom five. Perhaps what the Clips settle for is dealing Maggette for a high pick and an expiring contract, in a deal similar to the swap with Minnesota in which they happily took back Cassell and a future pick for the signed-and-traded Marko Jaric. At the very least, banking on a Maggette trade appears to be the safest assumption in trying to forecast L.A.'s offseason. Unless you're such a giddy Brand-wagoner that you believe Sterling is going to pay Dunleavy, Cassell, Radmanovic, Kaman and Livingston … without getting rid of anybody. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. Would you guys trade our #8 pick for Corey Maggette. He is a proven player. He can come in and give us our 3rd option right away. This years draft looks very weak. I don't want projects and all of the players in the draft looks to be 2-3 yrs away. Remember our window of opportunity is very little with Yao and tracy. We need help now. Only concern about Maggette to me is that his Defense is not great. I was watching LA and PHX game and Corey always miss played on Pick n roll. I might be wrong about his Defense but it shouldn't take away anything form Maggette anyways. He is a very good player. He can pentrate and get to the foul line, something Mcgrady can't do a lot of. He can shoot the ball and HE IS TALL. If we trade for Corey than we can work with our MLE and TE to get 2 or 3 great players. We can bring V. Span or MJ. WE can have a lineup of Rafer/MJ/Sura Corey Maggatte/Head Tracy Mcgrady/Bogans J.Howard/Stromile Yao/Deke I know i am missing some people. We can use our TE to bring a backup PF, SG, or PG.
Guy is injured all of the time, isn't a great 3pt shooter, isn't a great defender, and mostly just scored a lot of points when the Clippers were bad. The fact that they've had their best year while he's been MIA says a lot.
If we had cap room, you have to make this trade. Maggette for the 8th pick, that's a steal, CD would be fired if he didn't make that deal.
Maggette is definitely the kind of impact player that could take us to the next level. He would absolutely destroy defenses that focused too much on Yao and Tracy. He's as good a player as we could hope to get as a 3rd option. However, he's injury-prone and doesn't play good defense. The injury thing scares me a lot but just imagine him attacking the wide open rim and piling up FTs. Our offense would be close to unstoppable. His contract is great but can we get him? Someone answer me this: If we sign someone the Clips want at the MLE, could we trade that player along with our $2.8MM trade exception for Maggette?
Wow, have you watched the Clippers in the playoffs, especially against the Suns? The guy has been playing great, doing all the things you say he can't do, doing all the things to help his team win, and the Clippers probably would not even still be in this series without his contributions off the bench. I think people forget that they slumped in the middle of the season when he went down with the injury. All that being said, I wouldn't give up a top 8 pick for him. If you could get him for Swift or Howard and a couple of #2's, sure. But, you would probably need a third, under-the-cap team to facilitate the deal.
Why not may I ask, he fills a lot of Rocket needs. This is a weak draft and name me a #8 in the past 5 years that was that much better than Maggette that you wouldn't trade trade him for.
The Rockets have a need for a swingman with length and someone that can be a legit 3rd scorer. CM can be that guy. He is 6'6", strong and can create his own shot. That's needed here. Granted he isnt that great a spot up shooter, but he does other things. And he would be great on the fast break. I think his defense is decent enough. To me, this team needs a 3rd scorer more than they need a "spot up shooter." If that is the same person, than great. But I would rather find a more well rounded player with multiple skills than just a "shooter" that doesnt do much of anything else. This team needs more "talent" across the board, anywhere they can get it. It really depends on who is there at #8, but I would say chances are that CM would make more of an impact than the #8 pick for this team. That was the basis of my Josh Childress trade idea a month ago. Although Childress isnt near the scorer that CM is. My only concern is CM's health issues. And that is a concern. We cant afford people to break down. We need some durability. We would have to weight the risks there.
Even in a strong draft year, draft picks are no sure thing. If you can get a 26 year old Maggatte for a #8 pick in a weak draft year, it is a no-brainer. I'd definately trade him for Swift or Howard but that is unlikely. That being said, he isn't the ideal person I'd pick for this team. He's a natural SF as is TMac so he creates a rotation problem and he doens't space the floor well with shooting. But he is talented and you always take talent esp for a #8 draft pick.
We don't have the cap room for an $8mil a year contract. Yao's new contract kicks in this year, and there's no room left. We have a couple TE's we can use that are only a few million. Other than that, we have a mid level exception we can use for around 5.4 mil, which can be split, and a couple smaller exceptions. Otherwise, it'll just have to be standard trades within 25% and $150k of each other, and if either party throws in a draft pick to sweeten it. At the middle of this last year, we could have made some trades with expiring contracts, but those are gone now ... We can't trade a draft pick for salary in this case, unless we were 8 mil under the salary cap, and then we'd lose our exceptions. We are already over the salary cap, and in danger of going over the luxury tax.
Your quote reminds me of what people said about Jason Terry in Atlanta. Everyone said that he was scoring because ATL sucks. Now he is playing awesome in Dallas. Corey Maggette can be our Jason Terry at SG position.
As I watch him play he has a lot of talent but honestly the REFS SEEM TO HATE HIM I've never seen a guy get so many offensive fouls, Traveling calls etc most of them are questionable but he seems to be seen as a bull in a china shop on the court but I think someone called him a Turnover machine even if it is not his fault. . . in the Clipper/Suns series he has been a bit of a illtimed turnover man Rocket River
that's absolutely right.. Maggette cant shoot consistently..he has a little midrange but no 3 what so ever...and that's exactly what we are missing in this team... we need shooters and a monster (rebounder and defender) on the 4....SAY NO TO MAGGETTE..
Maggette is a slasher, like others have said, is not a great shooter, and makes mistakes all the time.
Say Yes to Corey Maggette.This guy has worked HARD to overcome many of the bad habits developed in Clipperland prior to their accension.Corey has gotten his body where it needs to be to take the pounding of driving inside/rebounding too.I definitely agree about him working well with Yao and TMac.There have been times out there when he pulls a disapppearing act or appears lost.But these are diminishing and Maggette is finally starting to scratch the surface of his potential on a more regular basis. He takes it to the hoop with ferocity and he rebounds like a madman.The jumper might be a tad streaky,but when he heats up...oh,man. ...and contrary to what I'm hearing,this guy can D up. If he's available,the Rockets should grab this former Dukey...With him,the problem has been both injuries and between the ears.....Well,Maggettte is healthy and seems to be much more focused/professional in his approach to the game.That same guy that left Duke,oozing with potential has grown up.Let's scoop him up. He kind of reminds me of a cross between a poor man's MJ/Vernon Maxwell.
Too much of a risk. We'll have enough firepower. Magette has been injured too much and he gets paid a load.
Since,for some reason,I'm not allowed to edit....let me clarify......I don't believe he had a clearly defined role on the Clippers.
