Hello, Corey Maggette

With the Sixers winning the Elton Brand sweepstakes, the Warriors turned to the second-tier alternative coming out of LA: Corey Maggette. And when I say second-tier, I mean second-tier. From what I've seen of him during Warriors-Clippers games, he gets to foul line and converts at an above-average rate, but every other aspect of his game is lacking. Here's what sideline reporter Matt Steinmetz has to say:

First off, Maggette is injury prone. He’s been in the league nine seasons and has played 70 or more games just four times in his career. Maggette’s body says Iron Man; his stats say Tin Man.

Maggette is a great sub, the kind of aggressive scorer you love coming off the bench. He has a shoot first mentality and is a mediocre defender at best. In other words, as a sixth man he’s great, as a starter he’s not.

Maggette has made it clear he wants to start and be a primary offensive option. But he’s the type of high-maintenance player who doesn’t make teammates better. In fact, because he doesn’t create much, there tends to be a lot of standing around when he’s got the ball on the perimeter.

Maggette has never played for a winner. His teams have missed the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons he’s been in the league. The one year a Maggette team made the playoffs was in 2006, when the Clippers made it to the postseason. That year Maggette played 32 games.

For $50 million over 5 years? Oh boy.

If that figure is correct, then Maggette will make roughly $9 million this season, taking up a decent chunk of cap space. Some numbers to get a wider sense of the Warriors' financial situation:

Cap: $58.69 million
Lux tax: $71.15 million
Warriors' salaries: ~$49 million

Factoring in Foyle's buyout ($6.9 million), Anthony Randolph's rookie contract, and Richard Hendrix's minimum salary, the Warriors have roughly $9 million under the cap to play with. Keep in mind, Monta, Biedrins, and Azubuike can all be signed regardless of the cap. Once that trio is signed, the Warriors will be just under lux tax.

So what to do with that $9 million? That amount won't bring in a solid PG, but it does help in making trades for one. At this time, only max deals can pry the FAs such as Smith and Iggy out from their respective teams.

Comment starter: You're Chris Mullin with $9 million. Whosit gonna be?

UPDATE: The Warriors reportedly offering Ronny Turiaf $17 million over 4 years. Well, that slices down the $9 million to about $5 million to play with. And we still don't have a point-guard.