The Jazz should get a little selfish this next season

Corey Maggette (above) has been labeled as a talented, but selfish basketball player, who doesn’t play defense, but I would love for the Jazz to make a move to add him to the roster.  Why, you might ask?  Because two of Corey Maggette’s strength’s are exactly what the Jazz need on the team. 

I would list the Jazz weaknesses as these:

1. Lack of interior defenders

2. Lack of 3 point shooters

3.  Lack of scorers off the bench

4.  Lack of players who can create their own shot

I am not going to pretend that Maggette is a great, or even good three point shooter.  He’s not.  And he doesn’t add anything to the interior defense.  But he is perfect for the other two weaknesses.  Maggette is a fairly selfish basketball player.  There is no getting around that.  But how many times have you been watching the Jazz and said out loud, “pass the ball!” or  “stop attacking the basket!?”  I am guessing that it happened less than “shoot the ball” or “stop settling for jumpshots!” 

The Utah Jazz led the league in assists per game with nearly 25 a game, so I am guessing that they wouldn’t be too hurt by a guy like Corey Maggette.  And if the Jazz brought him off the bench, it would give the reserves a chance at scoring.  I can’t count how many times I looked at the second unit on the floor with Andrei Kirilenko, Brevin Knight, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur and thought, “how are these guys going to score?”  Without Deron Williams on the floor, the Jazz just don’t have shot creators.  Maggette would fix that.

But let me demonstrate what Corey Maggette would absolutely do for the Jazz:  get to the line.  Corey Maggette shot 8.1 free throws per game last season in 31.1 minutes.  That is a ridiculous free throw every 3.8 minutes.  Let me put that in perspective.  The Jazzman that shoots the most free throws per minute is AK.  He shot a free throw every 5.9 minutes.  Deron Williams shot a free throw every 6.6 minutes.  Here is a list of NBA players that get to the line often along with minutes per free throw attempt.

1. Dwight Howard- 3.3 minutes per free throw

2. Corey Maggette- 3.8 minutes per ft

3. Dwyane Wade- 3.9 mins per ft

4. Lebron James- 4.0 mins per ft

5. Chris Bosh- 4.7 mins per ft

6. Kobe Bryant- 5.2 mins per ft

7. Brandon Roy- 5.7 mins per ft

I don’t have the numbers for all of the NBA players, but from what I can gather, Corey Maggette shoots the second most free throws per minute in the NBA of people that played over 30 minutes.  But unlike Dwight Howard, he shoots a good percentage from the free throw line at 82.4%.  That would have been good enough for 3rd best on the Jazz last year behind Korver and Deron Williams.  At the end of a game, or against a defender like Kobe Bryant or Manu Ginobili, Maggette would keep the pressure on his man and also get his defender into foul trouble by attacking the basket.  Not to mention that he would help the entire Jazz team get into the penalty quicker.

You might see this a lot from Kobe Bryant, if he had to guard Corey Maggette.

So how do the Jazz get a hold of Maggette?  I wouldn’t mind if he is the trade target of Carlos Boozer.  But I think that after Speedy Claxton’s trade restriction is lifted on the 25th of August, that the Warriors might be interested in trading Claxton’s expiring contract and Maggette for Andrei Kirilenko.  The Warriors want to be rid of Maggette’s long term contract. They would actually be taking on less total salary in the Kirilenko deal.  For the Jazz, that deal would clear $2.5 million this season and $8.2 million next season.  I think the Warriors would go for it too.

So what I am asking all Jazz fans, is to forget about your prejudice of Corey Maggette.  Sure he has never been a winner.  Have you seen the teams he has played on?  And sure he hogs the ball a little.  Can’t he please hog the ball for the Jazz a bit?  But the bottom line, is that he is a physical, veteran player who would keep defenses under pressure and be able to attack the rim at the end of a game.  He would be a great fit for the Jazz and there is a reason that the Jazz have pursued him in the past.  So has San Antonio.  The Spurs and the Jazz can’t be wrong.  I just want the Jazz to pursue him one more time.