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There was a time that I might have been hesitant to post such a thinly sourced rumor but if Chad Ford can drop random references to "locker room tension" on ESPN.com then really, are we doing anything more than following the leader?
No seriously, we still have our standards. This "rumor" comes from an anonymous source on a message board, but he/she has proven over the years to have gotten some things right. And really, if you want to split hairs over Internet ethics just call this "speculation" instead of "rumor".
RealGM • View topic - All Amare Trade Talk Here
GSW are talking again....Oh, I should add GSW wants us taking Maggette's contract, +
On the surface, the Amare to Warriors rumors don't make sense for the same reason they didn't happen this summer. Amare doesn't want to go a team that isn't headed in the right direction and it is impossible to consider the Warriors current ownership as committed to building a winner.
BUT - now we have confirmation of long-time whispers that Oracle's Larry Ellison is trying to buy the Warriors.
This has the potential to change things in two ways.
1) The current ownership group might be willing to take on Amare as an expiring contract if they think that getting rid of Maggette's longer term contract if it helps the team's sale value by reducing liabilities on the books. With long term contracts committed to Ellis and Biedrins as well, it would make sense that they might want to rid themselves of a long-term Maggette deal.
2) The new ownership group might think they can convince Amare to stay by showing how much money they are willing to spend to build a winner. There would also be no better way for a new owner to make a big splash than to sign a free agent of Amare's caliber.
What would a possible trade look like?
Corey Maggette is slated to make about $10m per year over the next three seasons (thru 2012/13). For the Suns to take on that contract they would have to be enticed with some young talent and or picks.
I am no Maggette fan. Over the course of his career he's a guy with a ton of talent who's both struggled to stay healthy. He's played fewer than 70 games in 6 of the last 10 years. Even more worrisome is his tendency to not play team basketball and to shoot any time he touches the ball - and not all that efficiently.
Over his career, Maggette has shot around 44% from the field but for this season is up to 52%. That could be a result of his getting a lot of fast break opportunities playing Nellie ball. It could be a result of his playing the Four which matches him up with guys that can't cover him. But it seems to me that it also is a result of him just hitting more of his shots. It should be noted that Maggette is a career 32% three-point shoot (and is under 25% for the last two seasons).
Maggette's strength has always been his strength. He's an extremely powerful offensive player who can bull by smaller small forwards and as a result gets to the line frequently. He's averaging about nine free throws per game over the last six seasons.
At age 30, with his history of injuries and his very un-Suns like style of play it would certainly take some sweeteners for the Suns to take on Maggette. Or at least on would assume...
The Warriors have two young studs in Stephen Curry and Anthony Randolph.
Randolph is very young and raw but extremely talented and could step in to replace Amare in the front court when he returns from injury. Randolph has, "has two torn ligaments on the outside of the ankle and an avulsion fracture where an inside ligament pulled away from the bone. He'll be in a protective boot for three weeks before starting rehabilitation, which usually takes at least four weeks for similar injuries." The injury occurred on the 9th of January so if he returns this season it will be in early March at best.
Obviously, the Suns would want a full medical report on that, but assuming it is an injury that he can fully recover from there are still other concerns I have about Randolph. He's very young, but when I interviewed him in Vegas during summer league I wasn't overly impressed with his leadership skills or demeanor. He struck me as a me-first type player. I would think that's something else the Suns front office would need to consider but he's young and on a rookie contract and the talent-upside is tremendous so it wouldn't be a huge risk.
Stephen Curry on the other hand, has all the feel of a guy that's going to develop into a top notch NBA point guard. I know the Suns absolutely love him and his continued development this season has been impressive. He's passed Jennings statistically and is now considered by many to be the second best rookie in his class behind Tyreke Evans.
Of course, the Warriors love him too so prying him out of Golden State might be a trick. If the Suns were able to get him they would have a glut in the back-court but for a player like Curry that's a problem you deal with down the road by trading someone else.
Bottom line
As much as I don't like Corey Maggette, if the Warriors were willing to package Curry AND Randolph with him that's a deal the Suns have to do. I seriously doubt the Warriors would be that desperate however so it would come down to either getting Randolph and a good draft pick like the Warriors first round pick from 2010.
If they were to offer Curry than I would be happy with a "worse" pick. The Warriors 2nd round pick from 2010 is already promised to the Nets as is their 1st round pick for 2012 (which means they can't trade their 1st round pick from 2011).
Discuss.
[Note by Seth Pollack, 01/28/10 1:11 PM MST ]
Here's what our sister site Golden State of Mind has to say....looks like they want to hang on to Curry and Randolph