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Bucks-Warriors Corey Maggette Trade
Milwaukee Bucks Get: SF Corey Maggette, 44th pick
Golden State Warriors Get: C Dan Gadzuric, SG Charlie Bell
Why this makes sense for Milwaukee:
One of the Bucks’ major needs coming into the offseason was a wing player. Michael Redd, coming off another season-ending injury, might not be ready for the start of the season, and is in the final year of his deal, while John Salmons is expected to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent. While Milwaukee will take on the remaining three years, $31 million left on Maggette’s contract, they get a proven scorer who can replace Salmons on the wing and brings some toughness which fits into Scott Skiles’ style of play.
Maggette is an under-appreciated player in the league because he has not really played for a winner being stuck with the Clippers and Warriors. He averaged 19.8 points per game last season though and hasn’t scored less than 16.8 ppg since the 2002-03 season. While he might not be a great shooter, his ability to get to the basket will be a welcomed addition in Milwaukee.
I really admire GM John Hammond for not being afraid to take on contracts. This makes sense because Milwaukee doesn’t need to be a team entering the offseason with a ton of cap space since they are not a hot destination for major free agents. So why not take on a longer contract and in the process, make a major upgrade on your roster?
Now the question is how does this affect the Bucks’ 2010 NBA Draft strategy? It has been assumed that they will go after a wing player with the 15th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, but with Maggette now on board, Milwaukee might turn their attention toward a post player since Andrew Bogut is the only true post presence on their team. Kurt Thomas is a free agent, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Ersan Ilyasova are not very physical power forwards. A player like Cole Aldrich could be available at 15 and the Bucks have been rumored to be very high on Larry Sanders . Milwaukee now also has three second-round picks and should be able to add some quality depth.
Why this makes sense for Golden State:
Clearly this was a salary dump for the Warriors since they acquired a pretty much useless Gadzuric who is in the final year of his contract. Bell is nothing more than a throw-in to make the salaries match up, but is only on the books for about $7.4 million over the next two seasons. That means the Warriors will save more than $6 million in cap space next season and almost $11 million during the 2012-13 season.
I don’t think this changes any of the Warriors’ draft plans as they still need a post player like Greg Monroe at No. 6, although this might make them take a more serious look at someone like Al-Farouq Aminu since there is now a need for a small forward.
Winner:
MISSING
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