I read an article yesterday on ESPN.com about how the clippers aren't going to be able to keep their entire nucleus together because of the contracts coming due at the same time, sound familiar?

Anyway, the prediction is that they will resign cassell and trade magette for future cap space since he has been coming off the bench since his foot injury.

Before that he was scoring 22ppg. I think he could be the star the bulls get this offseason. If he starts at sg he could easily be an all star in the east. His tall, strong, shoots threes well, AND goes to the rim and finishes.

He's the kind of star we CAN and NEED TO get this offseason. While it would take something, bc the clips are looking to deal him and the fact that he isn't a true superstar yet make him gettable. We'd have to give up half our roster for a multi-time all star, but for someone who easily could be but hasn't been in the right situation to do so would be a much more affordable option. I'd rather have him over ray allen or paul pierce and he'd cost us a ton less.

Make Ben your 6th man or maybe make magette your 6th man. Include Ben in the trade for magette. The clippers are the one team who really can deal with a 6'3 sg bc their pg of the future (shaun livingston) is 6'7.

Does anyone like this idea?
What are possible trade scenarios?

What about Gordon and our Second Pick? I DO NOT want to trade Gordon, but i would for magette or jason richardson, easily

Hinrich
Magette
Deng
Alridge
Pryzbilla

bench
Nocioni
CHandler
Duhon
Allen
Sweetney

Salaries have to match up, especially if you want to make this deal after acquiring the Vanilla Gorilla. We won't have much cap space to trade with if we're gonna hit the FA market and overpay for an average C like Joel or Nazr.

Also, Chandler has to start at PF next year if we get Aldridge.

If we do get LeMarcus, we don't need to find a stop-gap center like Przybilla. We need offense in the paint, and Joel won't provide you with any. This is not to mention that Joel has no foot speed and can only be a shot-altering force when you challenge him straight up, but I'll save that for another thread.

But I like Corey Maggette because he forces the action. He can finish Top 5 in the league in free throws attempted if he can stay healthy for 70 to 75 games.

Maggette would be an interesting option (he even went to my high school, so he gets bonus points), but I don't know how likely us acquiring him is. I'd imagine that the Clippers won't give him away. Gordon and a pick might not work. Gordon plays a very similar style to Cutino Mobley, so he doesn't really fit a need. Plus, the 16th pick in this draft probably doesn't have much value. The only real need I see on their roster is for a defensive oriented wing player that is a reasonable scoring threat. Mobley and Ross can both do one, but generally not the other. Maybe Deng or Nocioni would fit better, but I don't think we want to do that.

On our end, Maggette definitely gives us a solid scoring threat. Corey gets to the free throw line with regularity. He has a reputation as a ball-hog, but his shot totals aren't that ridiculous. The bigger issue might be that ever since high school he's been a little lax on the defensive end. Maybe Skiles could whip him into shape, or maybe it's a Tim Thomas type situation.

If we could get him for Gordon and the pick, I kind of like that. However, that might not work for the Clippers.

The problem is that LaMarcus is very similar to Chandler in terms of build. He's very athletic, but he's not that strong in the post. You could probably put him at center and get away with it, but we'd still get abused against good post-up teams. He probably needs at least a year before he could be a legit center, maybe 2 or 3.

That would be a supremely athletic front line that would be deadly defensively in a few years, but both guys still need to bulk up.

No thanks... Maggette is too damn injury prone. He's only played more then 70 games in a season twice in his career.

He's averaged 63 games a season for his career.

Ill pass on Maggette, I dont want to trade the following:
Gordon
Hinrich
Noch
Deng

Kind of sick of all this trade talk and ideas, who cares lets see what happens, Paxson isnt going to make any trades, if he does I guarantee it involves a draft pick and depends on what happens with the lottery.

Well, I checked the schedule, and the Bulls aren't going to be playing again until the end of October , so what else is there to talk about in the meantime?

I think the Clippers would prefer Nocioni over Gordon too, but Mr Sterling is so cheap he refuses to go over the salary cap even if he has a team that is seriously close to being elite, which means he needs to trade this summer. Mobley is on the down swing and should be an ideal 6th man to wind down his career, as his shooting is still solid but he does not really contribute much else anymore.

This is also a good situation for Ben, as being paired with a 6'7 pg is the best thing for him. The clips should like this too, bc they have to realize they aren't winning a championship this year and a backcourt of mobley and cassell, while great now, is going to get significantly worse every year due to age.

I think the Clips will see that they have a solid front line with brand and kaman and want to start a defensive stopper like Quentin Ross. You know they would love to pair that front line with a young and exciting backcourt like livingston and gordon. Good balance for them and a trade that works well for both teams. Plus, Ben can become a great player out west. As bad as trading brand hurt, imagine if he was in east and we had to play him all the time.

Good trade for everyone, right?

I love that idea of Gordon and Livingston playing along eachother.... but no way we're trading Ben for just Maggette... Who knows how long he will stay in the league because of his health issues. Ben is young, can hit some big shots, and is needed here in Chi-Town.

I wouldnt give up gordon for maggette. I would flip out watching brand and gordon go off and both lead that team deep into the playoffs, when they both should be here in chicago.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!

everyone needs to learn from the brand for chandler trade. let's let this nucleus to continue to develop....just add fa's and draft picks. we wont get full trade value if we do it now anyways...as these guys continue to mature...their stature and trade value will increase....but I hope all 4 are on the bulls for a long long time.

One thing to remember is that Maggette is still pretty young. He's only 26, which is the same as Nocioni.

I don't want to trade ben either because he could be great............unless it's for a perennial all-star like maggette or Jason Richardson

Maybe we don't have trade Ben.

What would people be willing to give up for Maggette?

The fact remains that the clipps are probably gonna resign cassell and radmonovic and maggettee looks to be the odd man out. We have a real shot at him, and he could make a nice rotation with Ben too.

Our #16 pick and...........? If not noc or gordon, who? Sweets and sign and trade with songalia? I don't think they'll take it. The only other need they will have, assuming cassell retires or moves on in a year or so, is backup pg. Duhon, Sweets/sign and trade songalia, #16 for maggette? Would they go for that?

There's a difference between trading a solid player for a pick and trading a decent player for another solid player. You know roughly what you're getting with Maggette (a solid player for about 60 games), while it's a much bigger crapshoot in the draft.

Totally standing pat isn't really the answer either. Right now we have a team that can't win more than two games in the first round, and if all we add is picks and bench players it's going to be at least two years before we see a significant improvement. Even then unless Aldridge turns into a superstar we're probably not a conference finals team. Our team is young, but it isn't exactly brimming with future stars.

Heh you got me.

In that case lets trade our whole team let the firesale begin

Maggette has also had some major problems getting along with Mike Dunleavy here in LA. If you think he'd fit in with Skiles, you're kidding yourself.

we dont have a second rounder

there is not a bona fide scoring center in this draft. the best big men are Thomas and Aldridge, both who have the potential to be scorers but aren't yet.

I believe the person never said second round...

Probably meant secong pick, as in our 16th. (Our first pick is a top 5 because of New York.)

I never said that there was one.

Aldridge can be a decent scorer early on, somewhere in low double figures potentially. He probably isn't a full-time center though.

Zooms right.. plus he's better than what we got right now...Alridge may not be too consistent early on... but so are our front court players right now...

i would not trade gordon for him. Corey is a great player but theres something about him i wouldnt trust here. Maybe him wanting 20+ points everynight will end up hurting us. And hes not that great of a jump shooter.

I'd take a healthy Maggette in a heartbeat. Especially if we would be willing to play him at the 2 and use Deng/Noc in the 3 spot (with Noc also playing the ocassional 4). There would be plenty of minutes to go around and as long as Maggette would be happy to come here (and he checked out healthy) he would be a great addition.

The guy is able to create his own shot and he can put down free throws. One of the better free throw shooters in the league and he gets to the line often.

Add him (lose Gordon and our 2nd 1st round pick or maybe a 3 team deal where the Clips get what they want) and than take Thomas or Aldridge and than find a way to sign a backup big.

I'd also consider shipping off Chandler or our 1st round pick for a more legit big.

I think the Bulls have about $15 million cap room so I doubt that would stop a Maggette trade from happening. That being said, he is a big guard who can score from the outside, which we REALLY need for next year.

He seemed to do all right with Coach K...