[h2]Sources: Cavs talking to Warriors[/h2]
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By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine
Archive
The
Cleveland Cavaliers' pursuit of
Amare Stoudemire continues, but in case they can't land the
Phoenix Suns' All-Star forward, they have begun talks with the
Golden State Warriors about
Corey Maggette.
Despite their league-high 13-game win streak, the Cavaliers are leavingno stone unturned in attempting to improve their team and bring thecity it's first major sports league championship in 46 years.
Maggette
In addition to speaking to the
Washington Wizards regarding
Antawn Jamison and the
Indiana Pacers regarding
Troy Murphy, Cleveland is in discussions with the Warriors about Maggette, according to four sources with knowledge of the talks.
Stoudemire is far and away the Cavaliers first choice, and sourcesclose to Stoudemire said a report Monday that he told Cleveland hedoesn't want to play there is false.
Sources say the Cavaliers are willing to send
Zydrunas Ilgauskas,
J.J. Hickson,a first-round pick and another player (to make the deal workfinancially) to Phoenix for Stoudemire, but while the Suns mull overtheir options, Cleveland remains one of the most active teams in theleague leading up to Thursday's trade deadline.
The Cavs might need a Plan B, as the
Miami Heat are pushing hard to land Stoudemire as well, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein on Monday night.
It is not clear whether the Cavaliers' second-choice is Jamison orMaggette. The discussions with Golden State have centered aroundCleveland sending Ilgauskas and his $11.5 million expiring contract tothe Warriors for Maggette. Other players, perhaps Cleveland's
Danny Green and Golden State's
Devean George, would have to be added to make the deal work financially.
As is the case with all their potential trades, the Cavaliers hopetheir trading partner would waive Ilgauskas so he could re-sign withCleveland 30 days later. But no such deal can be struck beforehand, perleague rules.The Cavaliers' interest in Maggette, who is averaging 20.8 points pergame for the Warriors, is somewhat surprising. While the 30-year-oldsmall forward has long been regarded as one of the league's most giftedscorers, he has three years and nearly $31 million left on his contractand has been somewhat injury prone.
Maggette, who has a career scoring average of 16.6 points, has alsoonly made the playoffs one time in his 11-year career with Orlando, the
Los Angeles Clippers and the Warriors. That has led some to question Maggette's ability to help a team win, but the same questions dogged
Jamal Crawfordbefore he was traded to Atlanta last summer. Crawford, a formerteammate of Maggette's in Golden State, has helped the Hawks become anEastern Conference contender.
LeBron Jamesis aware of Cleveland's interest in Maggette, and sources close to himsay he believes he could help the Cavaliers.Maggette can play shooting guard as well as small forward, and whilehe's not a great outside shooter, the Cavaliers could at times playJames and Maggette together on the frontline in a small lineup.
