Corey Maggette must be wondering if he is on a special episode of Punk’d. How else can you explain when Maggette was coming back from a left foot injury which forced him to miss 39 games, he was coming off the bench for the Clippers. What?!?! Maggette would be a starter for any other NBA team. Heck, Corey Maggette almost got traded for Ron Artest.  Who was starting in place of Corey? Let’s see… Vladamir Radmanovic. Come on?! Now that Vlad Rad signed with the cross-town rival Los Angeles Lakers you think the starter gig belongs to Maggette. Wrong! There is talk that free agent acquisition Tim Thomas will be the starting SF. Ashton Kutcher where are you? 

There could be a solution to this Corey Maggette starting gig dilemma; Cuttino Mobley has offered to come of the bench in place of Maggette. We will see if Coach Dunleavy will accept Mobley’s offer.

Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 6, Pick 11 Corey Maggette SG/SF, Los Angeles Clippers

Last year in the 13 games that Corey Maggette was in the starting lineup, he averaged 20.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 9.9 trips to the line. In the 19 games in which he came off the bench, he averaged 15.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.7 trips to the line. Maggette averaged 10 more minutes of playing time as a starter than a bench player. It is quite clear from a fantasy perspective, a starting Maggette is better than the 6th man version of Maggette.

Corey is a good source for points (17.8 points/game) and a decent rebounder (5.3 rebounds/game) for a SG/SF.  You will need to look elsewhere for steals (0.6 steals/game) and blocks (0.1 blocks/game). Corey is not a great 3 point shooter, only making 0.8/game at a 33.8% accuracy from beyond the arc. Maggette is fantasy gold if your league counts FT% or FTM. Maggette averaged 8.0 trips to the line that ranked him 9th in NBA last year and he made 82.8% of his free throws. Obviously, Corey will be a valuable asset if your team has a poor FT%. In the case of this team he would help compensate Shaq’s ineptness from the charity stripe. 

Corey Maggette is fearless and attacks the hoop with reckless abandon. That is the reason why he averages so many FT attempts. This is also the reason why Maggette has never played a full season. The most games Corey played in a season were 77 games and that was in his rookie year of ’99-‘00. Last year, he missed 50 games mostly due to the aforementioned left foot injury. From ‘00-’01 to ’04-’05, Maggette has missed an average of 15 games per season. Potential Corey Maggette owners be warned that he will not play all 82 games this year. 

Maybe that is why Cuttino Mobley is willing to come off the bench because it may not be long before he is back in the starting line up.

Other team members

1.2. Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dallas Mavericks
2.11. Chauncey Billups, PG, Detroit Pistons
3.2. Tracy McGrady, SG/SF, Houston Rockets
4.11. Antawn Jamison, SF/PF, Washington Wizards
5.2. Shaquille O’Neal, C, Miami Heat