The Los Angeles Clippers once had a deal on the table that would have landed Ron Artest for Corey Maggette. Instead the Indiana Pacers pulled out with concerns that Corey Maggette's foot injury would not heal in time to help their season.
Ultimately the move died, Corey Maggette returned to health and the Los Angeles Clippers had an impressive playoff run taking the Phoenix Suns to seven games in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
The Pacers would trade Artest to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic. Their season would end with a first round loss to the New Jersey Nets. Stojakovic would end up leaving . . . the Pacers landing Al Harrington who they would then move to the Golden State Warriors for Mike Dunleavy Jr., Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod.
Sadly, both the Los Angeles Clippers and Pacers would miss the 2007 NBA Playoffs . . . and now it appears that Artest has worn out his welcome in Sacramento.
For most of last season the Los Angeles Clippers tried to trade Corey Maggette. For whatever reason, Coach Mike Dunleavy didn't value Corey Maggette's strengths enough to overlook his inconsistent defensive effort.
While the Los Angeles Clippers struggled all season to get consistent scoring, Corey Maggette languished in a limited role.
Once Shaun Livingston damaged his knee and Sam Cassell sat with numerous ailments, Dunleavy was forced to turn to Corey Maggette . . . and he delivered.
One has to wonder, if Corey Maggette was playing consistent minutes and was included as a bigger part of the offense, would the Los Angeles Clippers have made the playoffs?
That was a Dunleavy call and there's no way to go back and see what the difference would have been . . . but in retrospect it certainly looks like it was a big mistake.
Even though the Los Angeles Clippers fell short, Corey Maggette's strong play to close out the season suggests he'll stick around another season.
A revised Artest for Corey Maggette swap is unlikely.
The market used to be reasonably high for the troubled, but effective defender. Now that he's had some legal troubles off the court, Artest's stock is at an all-time low.
The Los Angeles Clippers would be grossly overpaying.
Though LA could certainly use the Sacramento forward if he was available for cheap - there doesn't appear to be an obvious trade available with the Kings.
Should Sacramento buy him out, perhaps the Los Angeles Clippers give him a look . . . but that's unlikely.
Despite the down season the Los Angeles Clippers have a positive locker room and probably wouldn't want to bring in such a potentially volatile player.
One writer wrote that the Los Angeles Clippers could be looking to sign ex-Los Angeles Lakers Smush Parker. Certainly the team has some needs at the point with Shaun Livingston still recovering from knee surgery and Sam Cassell an injury risk.
Wouldn't the Los Angeles Clippers just re-sign Jason Hart instead of Smush Parker?
(It's not like Smush Parker brightened up the Los Angeles Lakers locker room any this past season).
At this point the entire league is waiting for the NBA Draft Lottery to be held on May 22nd.
Until then it's very difficult to gauge how the off-season will progress.
A miracle bounce of the ping pong ball would be something else . . . Kevin Durant would be a nice addition to a Clipper team that could use a dominant perimeter player.
At least the answer will come in just over a week's time . . . even if the Los Angeles Clippers have terrible odds and are all but destined to pick 14th.
KEY NEWSLINES
NY Daily News: But Smush's days in L.A. might not be over. Sam Cassell is not getting any younger and Shaun Livingston is out for the entire 07-08 season. Smush Parker could end up signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Palm Beach Post: "Stan Van Gundy, who cited family reasons when he resigned as Heat coach in December 2005, said Friday he's ready to coach again in the NBA. Van Gundy, whose contract as a Heat consultant runs through June 2008, said team President and coach Pat Riley has given teams permission to interview him. Van Gundy has interviewed for the Charlotte Bobcats' head coaching vacancy. The Indianapolis Star said Van Gundy spoke with the Pacers, who recently dismissed coach Rick Carlisle. "Pat's been really good about giving people permission to talk to me, so I'll talk to whoever wants to talk and see what happens," Van Gundy said."
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