Corey Maggette on Friday publicly thanked owner Donald T. Sterling for his support, saying Sterling's strong comments about wanting Maggette to remain with the team "meant a lot to me."

"You usually don't hear stuff like that, so it's gratifying to have your owner say something like that about you," Maggette said. "There are definitely some positives you can take away from that."

Sterling summoned General Manager Elgin Baylor, Coach Mike Dunleavy and Maggette to an impromptu meeting last Saturday near the bottom of the entrance ramp at Staples Center. The main topic of discussion: ongoing trade talks involving Maggette.

Sterling said he wanted the seven-year veteran to remain with the team, Maggette said he hoped to stay, and Baylor and Dunleavy agreed that few players available in trades could help the Clippers more than Maggette, according to Clippers officials familiar with the conversation.

The owner left the door ajar to trade the Clippers' sixth man and second-leading scorer, telling Maggette he would permit Baylor and Dunleavy to move him in a deal that might improve the team significantly. But because of Sterling's firm stance, the price for Maggette probably would be too high for most teams before the Feb. 22 trading deadline.

"What it says to me is that he appreciates the effort I put out to try to help this team win," Maggette said. "That's really all it's about for me, trying to do whatever I can to help this team win games. He's the owner, it's obviously his team, so that can't be a bad thing if that's the way he feels."