End of story. Lock the thread because this is a pointless conversation. It even says in the article that the Clips want to trade to somebody UNDER the cap for exactly the reasons Sherlock has outlined above. Only way the Rockets are getting him is if we trade Juwan. No way Sterling is picking up Juwan's contact. Impossible trade scenario.
We have trade exceptions,expiring contracts,players,and picks.Please enlighten me how acquiring Maggette is out of the realm of possibility.
I think he would be a nice addition to our team.We have zero penentration besides T-Mac.The guy is just incredibly strong,maybe the strongest swingman in the league.He would be a perfect 3rd scorer.He would get a lot of open looks,and he wouldn't have to do everything alone,like he did with the Clippers a couple years ago.Even though I think he would be great here,his health is a big concern.
I've watch him play since he joined the Clips (yes I live in LA). My obversations: Strengths: Strong - overpowers players without even trying. Defense - when he wants to lock someone up he can. Slashing - great at getting inside and dunking on anyone(can finish with a thunderous dunk and doesn't have the loose hands like Swift, also a great alley opp finisher like Marion) Creating own shot - quick first step, has the ability to get open Scorer - can score in bunches, make it anywhere, get's hot and can go three after three after three(career 33% 3pt, playoffs 38% 3pt), makes acrobatic shots more than not. Finding the open man for spotups - has an avg of 3+ assist per game Rebounder - goes high, good at getting it esp. in traffic, avg 5-6 Weaknesses: Strong - maybe too strong at times, knocks people over without even trying, refs always seem to look to call the offensive on him. Too aggressive - get's cheap fouls which limit's his mins. Defense - Saves energy on defense at times and cares more about scoring on the other side. Content outside at times - settles for outside shot too much. Injuries - even without last season's 32 games played, he's avg about 65-70 games(lowest GP: 63 in 05, highest GP: 70 in 04) since joining the Clips. Conclusion: would be a great SG to have. Strong as a PF, as fast as anyone at SG outside of AI(yes he can keep up with Kobe). He can definitely fill it up fast (20ppg in 04, 22ppg in 05), if JVG can get him to concentrate on D he's got the skills to be good. At 26, he's right there to start his prime with Yao. I'd take him anyday for the 8th pick.
I think he's right man. The trade exceptions won't help us. We don't have expiring contracts, we have expired contracts. The only contracts that expire after next season are Deke, Ward, and Rybo as far as I know. I don't know how else we'd match the salary except like someone said before, Juwan. So I don't think it could happen.
Instead of Maggette, how about we go after Peja? He'd definitely give us the deadly outside shooter we need to pair with T-Mac & Yao. Houston sends Head/Swift/this year's #1 pick to Indiana. Indiana sends Peja to Houston. Head shows promise. Swift is more effective in a running offense & Indiana might think he'd be a nice fit on their team. With the #8 pick, they could pick the BPA. With Peja, the Rockets would have the consistent outside threat that they've been lacking & could use their MLE to go get a PF like Melvin Ely, Reggie Evans, Chris Wilcox, Francisco Elson, Nene, or, dare I say it, even Kelvin Cato.
I see it's already been mentioned that Sterling probably wouldn't take Howard's salary..... I usually dig your trade proposals Hottoddie,but I think Peja has too many miles and doesn't play good defense.
He's only 29 years old & been in the league just 8 years. He's still shooting as good as he ever was & his defense will most assuredly improve in JVG's help defense system. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that one of the rubs against T-Mac before he came here?
Overdramatizing much? We don't need to lock the thread. It's the offseason, and what's wrong with speculating. What else are we going to talk about. First off Maggette's contract is $6.7 this year, and $7.2 next year. With the 125% rule, and the fact that you can do trades before Free Agency at this year's salary if all players involved are signed on for next year, if we do a deal on draft day or before, we only have to send out $5.5 million in order to match Maggette's incoming. That sounds a lot easier than throwing around an $8 million figure. Granted, if the clips are bent on dumping Maggette's salary, we probably have to work out a 3-way deal. It wouldn't be easy, but it's not impossible. New Orleans has cap space, so maybe something like this: JR Smith to LA #15 to LA (Hornet's pick) Ryan Bowen to LA (to match salaries) Maggette to Houston #12 to Houston (Hornets Pick) Stromile to NOLA #8 to NOLA #34 to NOLA (Clippers 2nd rounder) So we get Maggette and move down in the draft for Stro. LA gets a young SG in Smith and another draft pick that they love so much. And the Hornets get Stro, a trade up, and an extra high 2nd rounder for Smith and their mid-rounders. I'm not sure if the Hornets would go for it, but it's worth discussing. And regarding Maggette himself, the only thing I don't like about him are his injuries. Otherwise, he's very good at driving the rim and drawing FTs, and he's got an underrated off the ball game. He's pretty good at coming off screens and catching and shooting, which would fit our system well.
I'm wondering how many of you have actually seen Maggette play. NOT a good fit for this team, mainly an isolation player ala Jerry Stackhouse who uses his body to get to the FT line. Has a pretty good mid-range shot, but doesn't fit our needs for a 2-3 guard. Lost his starting spot to Quinton Ross, a one-dimensional defender... just shows how important stopping penetration is on the perimeter.
Our needs at the 2-3 guard is talent. And the way Stackhouse ran around our backcourt last year, comparing him to Maggette doesn't sound so bad in my book.
The Clippers are getting all kinds of praise for signing Mobley. But, if they don't get anything decent in return for Maggette, that's a big screw up. He's a much better player than Mobley, right now, and he's also much younger. The Clippers are going to be getting one decent year out of Mobley (this year), and that's it. I don't think he'll be playing even at a starter level after this season.
That three-way trade proposal by M_Cable is great. It's actually something that makes sense for all three teams. Good job. As far as my thoughts on the Rockets acquiring Maggette - I hate how appealing I find it. He's been injury prone and when you consider the problems we've had last season, I hate to add another injury prone player. Maggette is so talented though, and the Rockets are in such desperate need for more talent. I think Maggette would definitely be a better option than anybody we're going to pick up in the draft. I'd have to do it if something like what M_Cable proposed could be done. The other Clipper I'd love to steal is Vlad Rad. He'd definitely be the sharp shooting 4 that could space the floor that JVG keeps talking about.
Anyone could have run around our backcourt last year, bringing in Maggette doesn't help that. I was the only one who wasn't on the Derek Andesron bandwagon last year because he has the same faults as Maggette: 1. Lackadaisical defenders 2. Disrupt offensive flow, very hard for them to play within an offense that has two superstars (Anderson's few good games were when TMac was out and he could throw up all the shots he wanted) 3. They've already decided whether they want to score or pass before they touch the ball 4. On/Off players. Either they bring it or they don't, and when they don't they really don't have much to contribute. And as everyone has already mentioned, his physical game has led him to be injury prone. I would MUCH rather have Sam Cassell or Quinton Ross. But hey, if we can get Maggette for Swift then that's awesome. I just don't want to miss out on Brandon Roy for a guy (Maggette) who wouldn't be able to fit on this team.
I'll agree that I wouldn't take Maggette over Roy (who is very polished, and will certainly be a good player, although he also has some issues with his knees), or Gay (who has talent to burn and would be a very good rotation player even if he never touches his potential), and possibly even Carney. All things being equal, you would go for the younger guy on a rookie contract. But if those guys go before we pick like they're projected, then we should ponce on a deal. And I think you are seriously underrating Maggette's off the ball skills. I've seen him come off screens and catch and shoot many times, and he's very solid in this area. And he's not going to bog down the defense if we just run our offense through Yao and T-mac like we're supposed to. Maggette can camp out on the weakside while Yao or T-mac goes to work. If someone gets doubled, then swing it around to Corey and he can penetrate or shoot and take advantage of the rotating defense. Also our talent is so scarce outside our two big guns that we can't really be choosey. Maybe you'd prefer bringing in a good perimeter defender, but doing both isn't mutually exclusive. You can still go after other key perimeter players via the draft or free agency. Hell, I'd be ecstatic if we were able to bring other guys in and have a player the caliber of Maggette coming off the bench. I mean, the Clippers picked up Quinton Ross off the street, why can't we do the same.
If you are right (and I don't think you are) then that signing will be a HUGE mistake no matter what else they do. Cat sgned a contract that will be paying him an average of 8 million per until 2010.
