Point well taken, but either way, he's got to go.

If you can squeeze a late 1st round pick out of some team that thinks that they can get over the hump with Corey, then you're in business. Through all his faults, Maggs still has value.

The biggest positive of trading him now is that Al Thornton will get to play NOW.

And if not, you let him walk. Heck, i'd cheer him when he came back in another uniform.

Bingo. Any Maggette trade (or Cassell trade for that matter) has to feature an expiring contract of equal value coming back in return, otherwise they're not worth doing.

I posted this on the espn site already, but I'll post it here again, this is a rough outline of what I would try to do this off-season if I were running the team:

Trade Sam to the Pistons for Murray, Hunter, Dupree and the Pistons 1st Round Pick in 08 at the trade deadline

http://tinyurl.com/38ph5b

This gives us a low first round pick and three expiring contracts (two players that DET doesn't even use and Murray who wouldn't be needed with the arrival of Sam). Sam goes to a contender where he can contribute and help them make a run at the title.

----------------------------------------Trade Mobley to the Jazz for Giricek, Almond and Collins at the trade deadline

http://tinyurl.com/3479rj

This gives us about 5 million more in cap room for the coming off-season and 3 million in cap relief after the 08-09 season. Mobley fits well in Jerry Sloan's system.........he's a hard nosed, durable veteran player that Sloan would like.

----------------------------------------

We would only have salaries commited to Kaman, Thomas, Thornton, Almond, Collins and Knight in the off-season. (22 Mill)

Renounce the right to Livy and re-sign him to a 1 year deal for 1.75 mill.

Re-sign EB to a 5 year, 80-85 million dollar extension (1st year salary approx 14 mill)

Allocate cap space for our two first round picks (lets say we get the number 6 pick and get DET's pick at somewhere between 23 and 27)....at a combined 4 mill.

That leaves us with a total payroll of approx 41-42 million for 10 players.

If the cap is set at around 55-56 mill next season (its 53 this season)...........that would give us aprox 14-15 mill in cap space, which we can use to either:

A. Go out and sign Arenas or Marion.

or

B. Re-sign Corey or get someone of equal talent back for Corey in a sign and trade, PLUS add an additional mid range free agent.

We could fill out the remaining 2/3 spots with minimum salary players. (A re-signed Davis, our 2nd round pick?).

Anyway, the numbers may be slightly off, but that is generally what I'd do if I were running the team.

All these obsession with Maggette looks funny and waste of time.

BTW, another possibility would be trading Corey and Thomas for Marion if PHX is willing to do it.

Marion wants out and Thomas plays well in the PHX system.

Trapp... that's a joke. Marion is an all-star and all-nba player. He is their defensive anchor...why would they do anything that stupid?

Correction:

Trapp: glad you are not running our team. Thank you.

Darryl,

Marion is going to leave PHX after the season is over. He has an ETO and is going to use it to become an unrestricted free agent.

The way our Club is managed makes it hard for player like Marion to join this Club.

This team lacks top quality GM who knows how to convince good players to believe in his system.
Elgin Baylor is not that guy.

I would welcome Marion in a clips guernsey, and EB as soon as he can.

It's astounding to me that some of you attack the one player on the team reasonably capable of scoring the basketball and who brings it every night. The reason Corey has value is b/c he's a good player who has a relatively cheap contract. Focusing on Corey instead of players like Ross, Tim Thomas and the like, who really bring very little to the table, as well as the coaching staff who has no idea how to coach or evaluate talent, is laughable.

They should let Cassell go, play Corey and the youngsters, realize that Livingston is never going to bring them to the promise land, fire Dunleavy, and set up for a high draft pick in this great upcoming class.

Stop wasting our time with the "trade Corey" nonsense. These nonsensical ramblings are quickly bringing down the quality of this fine blog.

I don't think it is waste to talk about this because the team as it is constituted now (with a healthy EB and Shaun) does not work with Maggette. We are a team with a solid frontline that needs shooters and a sharp PG. Maggette's talents would fit much better in an uptempo system and thus, is the only player that would give us the most in return. This is not about blaming Corey for the Clips' problems because it is not his fault. Its more about fit and with Kaman stepping up and EB coming back (plus a suitable replacement in Thorton), moving Corey - in the right situation - is something to think about.

What has Al Thornton done to indicate that he would be anywhere close to a suitable replacement for Corey Maggette?

With all due respect, Professor, the Clips can find shooters without trading Maggette. He has a role. The reason why the team does not have sufficient shooters now is because of management's personnel decisions. Now you are suggesting that the Clippers should trade Corey b/c of management's poor decisionmaking? Perhaps they should get new management.

Thornton is a case in point. Nice player, but they could have drafted a shooter (stuckey, for example) at 14. Seemed obvious to many of us at the time of the draft that they needed an SG.

maggette makes poor decisions each and every game, they need to cut off the players that are dragging down the team down and are liabilities on both ends of the court: maggette, and thomas.

they'll be able to pay q ross next to nothing, and he is the best small defender they have.

Sure Isaac - Corey's dragging down the team. FYI, if you're a basketball player, and you can't shoot, you're a liability on offense.

More shooters? Why? I thought we spent enough on Mobley & T2 for that one.

Is this team cursed? On paper, this is a very good team if everyone is healthy.
On another note, why does the Clippers make so many careless mistakes, and shoot bad shots (Mobley is a ball hog!!! Stop shooting if your having a bad game!!!I hate you!!!AHHHHH!!!!!)? They should be better than this since they are the 3rd oldest team in the league.
Man oh man, this team makes you taste a lil bit of victory and gives you hope(05-06 season) only to put you back down again.