The Fig Cap: Uh oh, Maggette yo!

Freed from the shackles of the sixth man role he begrudgingly occupied last season, Clippers swingman Corey Maggette is primed to shine as the team’s leading scorer this year. Elton Brand was the centerpiece of the offense and the rock that everyone could lean on for the past six seasons. With Brand’s Achilles tendon torn this offseason, Maggette has been thrust from a buttressing role to be the proverbial leg for this team to stand on. Perhaps the same could be said for his role on your fantasy team…

Maggette had enjoyed incremental success seeing his scoring average rise for six straight years since bouncing from Duke to the L following his lone season under Coach K’s tutelage at Duke. He topped out at 22.2 points per game in 2004 before being regulated to bench duty for the so-called good of the team last year. Man, what a mistake that was. Sure Coach Dunleavy thought Maggette’s scoring punch off the bench would invigorate the second unit like they were in an Herbal Essences commercial and that Quentin Ross’ defense would stymie opposing SGs from a hot start, but the Clip Joint went from rising playoff contenders in 2005-06 to the lottery this past year. I’m not saying that this is a direct correlation, but it ain’t no damn coinkidink either.

Reinserted into the starting five and the clear top scorer on this offense, Maggette is poised for his best season as a pro. He should establish a new career-high in scoring bringing his average north of 23 ppg and again be a monster contributor from the charity stripe. In fact, his consistent stroke at the free throw line and the regularity in which he gets there thanks to his bulldozing jaunts through the lane, is by far his greatest fantasy contribution. He could very well attempt over 10 free throws a game – only two players did that last season – and at a 85.5% conversion rate (his preseason average on 10.2 FTA/game), he would trail only Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant in effectiveness in this category.

Based on this heaping pile of praise, you must be wondering how in the hell did Maggette fall so far in our mock draft? While the less than stellar peripheral stats are part of the reason (5.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 0.9 spg), his track record when it comes to injuries is full of blemishes. His game totals for the last seven years reads like this: 69, 63, 64, 73, 66, 32 and 75. Expecting a full season from the Chicago native would be foolish, especially with all of the contact he draws with his countless reckless forays to the rim. For the 70 or so games he does play, he’ll easily outperform last year’s numbers and is in line for a career year as he enters his prime. That’s quite a bargain for the last pick of Round 6. In H2H leagues, it’s an even better selection as long as he’s healthy for the playoffs.

Having already established a good base for this team, it was important to secure some more scoring and strengthen the FT% category with a MPE player (SG, SF in most leagues). Hopefully, he’ll pick up some extra assists too since he’ll be handling the orange more than ever before, which would provide a nice lift in that category from the SF spot. Any time you can nab a player as talented as Maggette this late who is poised for a career-year, you got to seize that opportunity. As the Fig Cap states: Uh oh, Maggette yo!

Other Players on this Fantasy Team:
1.1. LeBron James, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
2.12. Carlos Boozer, PF/C, Utah Jazz
3.1. Paul Pierce, SG/SF, Boston Celtics
4.12. Mehmet Okur, PF/C, Utah Jazz
5.1. Antawn Jamison, PF/SF, Washington Wizards

Previous Picks This Round
6.1. Jason Terry, PG/SG, Dallas Mavericks
6.2 David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets
6.3 Luol Deng, SG/SF, Chicago Bulls
6.4 Danny Granger, SF/PF, Indiana Pacers
6.5. Andre Miller, PG, Philadelphia 76ers
6.6. Samuel Dalembert, C, Philadelphia 76ers
6.7. Al Harrington, PF/C, Golden State Warriors
6.8. Ben Gordon, SG, Chicago Bulls
6.9 Leandro Barbosa, PG/SG, Phoenix Suns
6.10 Zydrunas Ilguaskas, C, Cleveland Cavaliers
6.11 Andris Biedrins, C Golden State

Previous Round Selections
Round One Recap
Round Two Recap
Round Three Recap
Round Four Recap
Round Five Recap