The Big Debate: Posey vs. Maggette

A big issue among Celtics fans has become the debate over who the Celtics should sign; James Posey or Corey Maggette? This wasn't really an issue until reports claimed that the Celtics made contract offers to Posey and Maggette. Posey is looking for a 4-5 year deal at the full MLE and is looking to return to the team he just won his second NBA championship with, while trying to cash in for likely the last time in his career while his stock is at an all-time high. Maggette is looking for a chance to win a championship for the first time and is willing to take a paycut to do so.

Posey is currently 31 years old while Maggette is is 28 years old. Maggette is peaking right now while it seems Posey is at the back end of his prime. One (Posey) is a defensive stoppers that is known for his basketball IQ, intangibles and ability to hit timely threes while he other is an elite slasher that has the ability to go for 25 night in and night out.

While Maggette is overall the better player, it's tough to find players like James Posey that are just naturally born winners. He did it with Miami and then he did it with Boston. Maggette hasn't won anything because to be honest the Clippers are one of the most poorly run teams in sports. They're known for players walking in the door and right back out it once their rookie deal is over. Maggette stayed loyal but apparently the Clippers have decided to let him walk in favor of Baron Davis.

It seems like bringing Posey back would be the smart thing to do, considering he helped this team win a championship. And Corey Maggette would just be another player that is going to have to learn our system. But it isn't as simple as that. It really wouldn't be wise for the Celtics to give James Posey a 4 or 5 year deal financially. They have their 'big three' locked up on big contracts for the next four years and while Posey is a valuable piece to the puzzle, his 31 years of age doesn't make a 5 year deal where he would be 36 years old before it's even over look attractive. He is only going to be able to shut players like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James down on defense for so long. His lateral quickness isn't even close to where it was a few years ago and his offense game is three-point shooting for the most part at 31. At 36, he would be getting destroyed by players like Lebron James and we would still be using our full MLE on him. It isn't worth it at all, it just isn't an intelligent business or basketball decision. Three years is fine but it seems like they aren't willing to take anything less than five years according to this article:

The Boston Celtics may have tipped their hand too early with James Posey, when news of contact with Corey Maggette surfaced, Posey's camp got on the offensive opening talks with a number of interested teams including the Lakers. Sources close to the situation say if Boston does not come with a full boat (5-year) deal at the Mid Level, James has that from other teams.

Now, I do think signing Corey Maggette to a four year deal is perfectly fine. Because by the time the deal is ready to expire Maggette will be somewhere close to the age that Posey is at right now, as he is just 28 and in his prime. Maggette is a player that can score 25 on any given night and adding a player like that to your bench just makes your team so much better. It isn't like he doesn't play defense either, he's an above average defender and I believe is willing to buy into the team concept as his quotes from the Boston Globe today show. According to the same Hoopsworld article, Maggette has narrowed his lsit down to Boston and San Antonio.

As the holiday weekend opens, there are some decisions to be made. Corey Maggette has told people that he has narrowed his list down to two main suitors – The San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics. Maggette has not made a final decision and will not likely announce a decision until after July 9th, when teams can officially start spending cap money.

If Maggette would be willing to accept the same role Posey did last year at around 25 minutes per game as the sixth man I think that we would be much better as a team. This would be especially true if Maggette was able to fit in immediately, and make the transition as sweet and short as possible.

I'm personally in favor of taking a talent upgrade in Maggette if we can do it. Posey's camp is just asking for too much. My only fear is that Posey will end up with the Los Angeles Lakers. He would put them over the top along with the additions of a healthy Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza full-time. But if we sign Maggette to the full MLE for the next four seasons we have four players in Maggette, Allen, Pierce and Garnett that can score 20+ when called upon and still have the lower-level exception to sign a backup point guard and we can probably use the veterans minimum, which essentially has no impact on the salary cap to sign a backup center that we've been working out recently.