Golden State Warriors: Corey Maggette Might Fit, But What About the Future?

It was a given that the Warriors were in for an exciting off-season once Baron Davis decided to return home to the Clippers. But given the expectation of a youth movement, the recent Corey Maggette signing is understandably perplexing to many Warriors fans and columnists alike. 

What makes this latest Warriors’ move especially difficult to decipher is that while it fits well with the current Don Nelson style of play, it does not necessarily fit with the Warriors future plans—financially or basketball-wise.

Maggette and Nellie  It might seem like an apples-to-oranges comparison, but in a free-flowing offense like Nelson’s, where shooting is more highly valued than a “traditional” distributing point guard, it’s reasonable to compare Baron Davis to Maggette.

With Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson just sliding over to the lead guard and off guard spots, respectively, Maggette is essentially replacing Davis’ production in the lineup.  Following that reasoning, one of my biggest complaints about Davis is his poor shot selection. Maggette is a much more efficient scorer overall, with a true shooting percentage of 59 percent vs. Davis’ 52 percent.

While Davis ranks No. 33 among point guards in true shooting percentage, Maggette ranks fourth among small forwards (where he will play for the Warriors). Since they both had the ball in their hands for about the same amount of time last season, it’s safe to say that Maggette is the more efficient player. 

An added benefit is that Maggette knows how to get himself to the free throw line for easy points. Whereas Baron got 5.2 free throws a game, Maggette had 9.7, good for the third in the league. As a solid 81 percent shooter—Davis shot 75 percent—that adds an extremely consistent scoring threat to the Warriors' offense.   People on forums around the web have taken to calling Maggette “the bowling ball” at times and that pretty much describes his game. Once he gets rolling down the lane, he’s looking to score and make contact with as many opponents as possible in the process. In that sense, he’s a pure scorer, but he’s much more efficient than Davis.

Maggette after Nellie...?  The problem is that Nelson won’t be the Warriors coach forever, as he has already considered retiring after the past two regular seasons. In a future without Nelson, the team might shift to an offense predicated on efficiency, using Andris Biedrins more. In that situation, Maggette may not be a good fit.  

First of all, Maggette is a ball stopper. But really, so is Baron…and at least Maggette is a rather efficient ball stopper. Plus, he’s a scorer, not a point guard anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?  Well, that’s not quite the full story. Maggette also has an assist-to-turnover rate of .97, which means he makes more turnovers (3.0) than assists (2.7) per game. For a guy who spends the majority of his time with the ball scoring, a turnover is just a wasted opportunity rather than an excusable attempt to get the ball to someone else. 

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