Jazz lure Maggette
Corey Maggette
By Phil Miller
(c)2003, The Salt Lake Tribune
The Jazz have convinced a free-agent guard from the Clippers to sign with Utah. Just not the one everybody expected.
Corey Maggette, a four-year veteran who averaged 16.8 points in 64 games for L.A. last season, has informed the Jazz he will sign an offer sheet with Utah on Wednesday, several NBA sources confirmed Sunday. Maggette's decision comes one day after his backcourt mate with the Clippers, Andre Miller, chose Denver over Utah.
Maggette's signature on a contract Wednesday, the first day free agents are allowed to switch teams, does not ensure he will ever wear a Jazz uniform, however. The 6-foot-6 Chicago native is a restricted free agent, meaning the Clippers have 15 days to match the offer.
The Jazz's offer is expected to be for the maximum six years, but it's not known how much Maggette will be paid. With John Stockton retired and Karl Malone agreeing to play for the Lakers, the Jazz are between $18-20 million under the salary cap.
Maggette's choice, like Miller's, apparently came down to Denver and Utah.
The 23-year-old guard -- he will turn 24 two weeks into the 2003-2004 season -- reinforces a shooting-guard position that the Jazz have had trouble filling consistently since Jeff Hornacek retired in 2000. Maggette's scoring has risen in each of his four seasons, from 8.4 points per game as a rookie with Orlando, to 10.0, 11.4 and 16.8 points in his three seasons with the Clippers.
Maggette, who left Duke to turn pro after his freshman season, is considered an explosive open-court player and a talented finisher. He even participated in the NBA's slam-dunk contest during the 2001 All-Star Weekend.
In three games against the Jazz last season, Maggette averaged 16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds, including a 23-point outing April 1.
If Maggette ends up in Salt Lake City, the Jazz are unlikely to bring back Calbert Cheaney, a free agent who started 74 games last season and averaged 8.6 points in his only season with Utah. The Jazz still have three-
year veteran DeShawn Stevenson and last month's first-round draft choice, Sasha Pavlovic, at the position.
Point guard is a little more uncertain, especially given Miller's commitment to Denver.
"I was really taken aback" by the former University of Utah All-American's apparently decision to spurn his college hometown, Jazz owner Larry Miller told KSL-TV on Sunday. Miller suggested that Andre Miller might have been reluctant to step into Stockton's old role. "I thought the money [the Jazz and Nuggets offered] was very similar."
The next step? "Now we'll have to go back to Plan B or C," Miller said.
One of those plans is Gilbert Arenas, though Miller said "the word is, he's planning on staying at Golden State." Still, Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor spoke to Dan Fegan, Arenas' agent, on Sunday, though the Jazz owner wondered whether his team is being used to drive Arenas' price up elsewhere. "We may be getting used as a pawn," Miller said.
pmiller@sltrib.com