ABOUT THE CAVS . . .
Cavaliers court Clippers guard
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Yes, the Cavs want Corey Maggette, the Clippers shooting guard who walked away from a $7 million option. Like Boston, San Antonio and some other teams, the Cavs are offering Maggette a "full level exception" which starts at $5.8 million. The same is true of the other contenders. The one team with lots of salary cap room is Philadelphia, which has as much as $16 million available. The Sixers have been talking to Josh Smith, Atlanta's restricted free agent. But they also could swoop in and grab Maggette, who is unrestricted.
The 6-6 Maggette is in his prime at 28 and yes, this is the same Corey Maggette the Cavs passed over in the 1999 draft, instead picking Maggette's Duke teammate, Trajan Langdon. Maggette averaged 22 points, shot nearly 46 percent from the field and a career-high 38 percent on 3-pointers. He is not a pure shooter, but he is the kind of athlete the Cavs need because he can create his own shot with the 24-second clock ticking down. He gets to the foul line a lot -- nearly 10 times per game last season -- and is a career 82 percent shooter. He could be the type of player the Cavs wanted when they signed Larry Hughes.
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