Thread: Camby Headed to the Clippers

Camby, Kaman, and Al Thorton up front. That's a pretty scary frontcourt, but at the same time swallowing up Camby's contract leaves them without the option of going after Josh Smith. The Clippers will make a run for the postseason now, but they just aren't deep enough to contend IMO. Maybe they get the 8 seed if they're lucky.

At first the Nuggets-Clippers trade is a bit of a head-scratcher -- Marcus Camby for the right to exchange No. 2 picks in 2010? Isn't he worth more than that? Heck, isn't pretty much anyone worth more than that?

Well, he is worth more than that, of course ... except if you're trying to cut costs, which the Nuggets rather clearly are, and have four other players that also make in excess of $10 million per season, and are trying to retain a fifth key player (J.R. Smith) who is a restricted free agent. In that event, having Camby around starts to look like a bit of a luxury.

From the Clippers' end, this trade starts out as a bit of a head-scratcher, too. Shouldn't they have tried to use their cap space on bigger fry (say, Josh Smith or Emeka Okafor) before they went after the likes of Camby? And since they were the only team with cap space, wouldn't this deal still have been available three weeks from now if Smith's and/or Okafor's teams matched the Clippers' offer sheet?

Ultimately, however, the needs of both sides made this trade sensible for each.

Full Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...y_Clips-080716

As much as this move pisses everybody off, with AI and Atkins contracts up after this year the Nuggets could be under the cap by next off-season giving them some options. (Save 40 million with this deal)

We all like Camby, but to pay him 10 million this year then nexxt year at 36 he would get 19 million! A tough but good move for the Nuggets.

Ric Bucher talks about deal(video):
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/...91300&n8pe6c=2

Posted by: John Schuhmann NBA.com
Free candy is great. Free Camby may be even better.

The Los Angeles Clippers moved up a few rungs on the NBA ladder when they got Baron Davis. Then they moved back down when they lost Elton Brand. But the Clippers are climbing again by acquiring Marcus Camby from the Nuggets for essentially nothing.

Camby isn't the player that Brand is, but L.A. has seemingly landed on its feet after last week's failure to keep their star big man. Camby, Davis and Chris Kaman form a big three of sorts, and with Eric Gordon and Al Thornton, the Clipps certainly have some talent around them.

Are they a playoff team in the loaded Western Conference? Well, I can think of one 2008 playoff team that has gotten worse ...

The Nuggets are calling the trade "a chess move." They do get a big trade exception that they can use to acquire another player before it expires in a year, but this move was clearly not about basketball. Denver had a bloated payroll, and trading Camby certainly lightens the financial load.

They could have had made a deal with New Jersey for actual live human beings, but the money was more important. Down the line though, it could actually turn out to be a smart move.

In previewing the 2007-08 Nuggets last October, I wrote this:
If they're healthy, they're the best frontline in the NBA, but that "if" is the biggest "if" in the Association.
At the time, they had Carmelo Anthony, Camby, Nenê, Kenyon Martin, Eduardo Najera and Steven Hunter filling their forward and center spots. That is deep. But now, they've lost Camby and Najera, and the frontline is looking rather shallow.

And this deal has other repercussions as well, because the Clippers were the last team with cap room that was actually willing to use it. So, restricted free agents like Josh Smith have suddenly lost some bargaining power.

Originally Posted by BroncoAV06

We all like Camby, but to pay him 10 million this year then nexxt year at 36 he would get 19 million! A tough but good move for the Nuggets.

He would not have gotten 19 million next year. His salary for the 2009-10 season is 7,650,000. That's a steal for a big man of his caliber in today's NBA market.

Wow they just gave Camby away for nothing.