Unless one of the few teams with money opens its vault to him, it appears Corey Maggette has only the midlevel exception available --- and that puts the Magic in the running. Things will heat up this week when teams can sign free agents on Wednesday, so....
The 5 Reasons Corey Ought To Choose Orlando To Play:
1. It's homecoming, sort of. Maggette began his career with the Magic, acquired in 1999 and then traded the next year. The Magic will issue a formal apology for this transgression. Despite that, Maggette has always liked it here. A few years ago, when he was the subject of trade talk, he intimated to me (heck, I wrote it) that he'd love to come back. His parents lived here at one time (and still might).
2. Dwight Howard. Hey, Maggette has a chance to play with the most dominant young big man in the league. Tim Duncan is 42. He'd get so many wide open shots because of Howard that his shooting arm might fall off.
3. The Eastern Conference, home of the Magic. The Boston Celtics are the champions, true, but they needed two longtime players from the Western Conference to win it. (See KG and Ray Allen.) The West is still the toughest from stem to stern as Maggette knows more than anyone, having getting beat on most of his career as a Clipper.
The Celtics are getting old fast, ready for blue-plate specials. The Pistons are so yesterday they are putting their whole team on E-Bay. LeBron? He's already planning his escape to New York/New Jersey. The Magic are coming on strong, having reached the semis this season.
4. The shooting-guard spot is yours, Corey, and trust me: Stan Van Gundy has never held up the stop sign. You want to have some fun? You want to shoot at will? Rashard Lewis won't mind if you do some of his scoring; he's that accommodating. You can be the guy who is considered The Missing Piece To A Title Run. You'd be just another guy under the whip with the Spurs, and you'd have to time-share with Ray Allen in Boston.
5. No state tax! If this isn't a tie-breaker, nothing is! If Maggette is making "only" about $6 million a season, he'll need the break.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/spo...ons-corey.html

