An L.A. heist? Why the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby from the NuggetsJuly 15 08  No Elton Brand. No problem. Reports have the Los Angeles Clippers bouncing back from the Brand fiasco by acquiring Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a future second round pick. What the Clippers get: L.A. is getting a deal; they’ve taken full advantage of a capped-out Denver squad and landed an all-world defender for next to nothing. The Clippers now boast a twin towers frontcourt in Camby and the rapidly improving Chris Kaman. Their blocks, rebounds, and interior defense should open-up the fast break for the athletic Al Thornton and newly signed Baron Davis. Best of all, Camby only has two years remaining on his contract at a below market rate of nine million dollars per season. Translation: big time player without the big ticket contract. What the Nuggets get: A future second round pick. Denver had to make this move because they overpaid power forwards Kenyon Martin (16 million dollars per season) and Nene (10 million dollars per season). The Nuggets had 76 million dollars on the books for next season, so dealing Camby was the only way to improve their cap situation. They now have 10 million dollars less in salary, which essentially forms a one season trade exception that can be used for a year. Denver could use this flexibility to pursue free agents or sit tight with their current roster and reassess in June 2009 when Iverson’s 22 million dollar salary expires. Winner: Los Angeles, for now. They gave up nothing and reeled-in a top-five center with a cheap contract. And, for the moment, nobody is talking about how they lost Brand. Of course, Denver could make use of the cap space, so we will have to wait and see what unfolds. L.A. or Denver? Who won the Camby trade? Get at us in the comment box below and come back to HoopsVibe The Blog for more NBA analysis. Image courtesy of photographer Aswizer’s on-line portfolio.
Posted by
yahh boi
on 07.21.2008 | it was a f**king joke you dumb a$$...... tim duncan and tim thomas are pretty much white ne ways... dey aint hood... and what’s "skook"? that sounds like somethin out of star wars. like f**king chewbacca or some $hit... lmao...... and who uses the word "dumby"? oh no, your not a queer are you?! or are you a lady? ha, ha... so, your either a lady or a f**king g--jedi lol......... . | Posted by
skook
on 07.21.2008 | yahh boi im sorry to burst your theory about only white people having the name but tim duncan and tim thomas are black.... dumby . | Posted by
yahh boi
on 07.20.2008 | f**k you tim... i’ll come down w/e the f**k you live and kick yo white a$$... you can tell when somebodys white when they have the name "tim" lol... i mean how much whiter can you get...... and do you know what overrated is? its when your not as good as you get credit for... a.i. avg. over 25 pts., had 3 reb., and 5 ast. a game. and melo had over 25 pts. a game, 7 reb., and 3 ast. now does that sound overrated to you? just remember a.i. once won an m.v.p. trophy and melo was the key in the nuggets turn around phase... they went from a 17-65 record to a 43-39 record in one season...... so don’t be hatin on melo and a.i. b/c they are far from being overrated...... and you say they are surounded by talent, who do the nuggets have? j.r. smith? linas kleiza? thats about it... they did have marcus camby who is one of the best defenders in the game don’t get me wrong but he’s 12 years pro and is nearing the end of his career so to me that was a good move by the nuggets... maybe not now but in the future yeah...... what the nuggets do need to do is trade a.i. (who is not overrated... thank you tim) and j.r. smith...... for some future prospects or free up some cap room for 2010 when d-wade is a free agent............ so yeah... f**king call them overrated again tim... mutha f**ker...... and the nuggets were matched up against the lakers in the first round! i do agree that it was a lil much gettin swept but look at the lakers...... and one thing the nuggets don’t have is team chemistry... they have a few players (a.i., melo, and j.r. smith) who are big time scorers and big time players but, together the chemistrys bad and thats why they didn’t have a good year in the playoffs...... and f**k you guys who say the nuggets sucked this season!... they had their first 50 win season in idk how long...... so what i’m trying to say here is a.i. and melo arn’t ovrerrated... there just on a team with bad team chemistry.................. and ohh yeah f**k you tim... f**king d**chbag...... . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 07.19.2008 | Hi Ed, Thanks for asking such great questions. Sorry for my late reply. As for your first question: who is to blame for the Nuggets always coming up short? I think it is a combo of management, players and coaching. Management has made several errors-like overpaying players and now having to move Camby (in my opinion). But the biggest issue seems to be the team’s lack of dedication to defense. Other than Camby, who is now gone, they just don’t do it. This seems encouraged by the coaching staff. Question 2: can Iverson grow into being a team guy after being the man in Philly? I love Iverson’s heart. He’s a giant for battling, playing hurt, and being so tough. And, in his own way, I believe he is a team guy. I’m not sure if he knows how to be a secondary player, though; it’s what has made him great, wanting to compete and be The Guy, but he won’t be a third option, at least on an average team like Denver. Question 3: Would Chris Paul, instead of Iverson, make Denver a much better team-even a Title contender? And if I understand correctly is Iverson then to blame for the team’s issues? Well, Paul is the game’s best point guard and a top five player based on last year. So he’d improve virtually every team and, hypothetically speaking, Denver as well. But replacing, or blaming, Iverson with Paul is unrealistic because top point guards don’t switch teams. And again, I have issues blaming Iverson because I love his heart and willingness to compete-you either live or die by it. Thanks for reading. Get at me with questions anytime, I won’t be so late in replying next time! Cheers. . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 07.19.2008 | Hi Luke, sorry for the late replay. No need to apologize. Thanks for reading. Dedicated fans are always welcome, so don’t be afraid to chime-in with a comment or message in the future. . | Posted by
mclutch
on 07.18.2008 | the failure of the nuggets cannot be put completely on the shoulders of ai n melo...they’re doing everything they can...the biggest problem is at the pg position. a.carter is too small and ai is more a sg than a pg.....atkins was injured most of last year and just wasnt ready for the playoffs...and now they’re going to have a hole in the middle...nene is not going to be able to cut it...not to mention k-mart’s inconsistent scoring, foul trouble, and even camby’s inability to score at will down low. but of course, this isnt to say that ai/melo arent a tad overrated...but all-in-all, brand made the best move for himself and the clips/nuggs did the best thing for their respective teams...sucks for camby tho . | Posted by
on 07.18.2008 | wow everybody going 2 tha clippers they gonna have a good team. . | Posted by
Jay from DC
on 07.18.2008 | And I agree (with bwill) that either POR or LAC will take Denver’s spot . | Posted by
Jay from DC
on 07.18.2008 | The AI trade was bad for Denver. Why? Iverson, as great as he is, is not a leader. He does not play on the ball defense. His 2-3 steals again are from gambling and playing passing lanes. He does not hold his teammates accountable on the defensive end either. TD does. Kobe does. Garnett definitely does. They have championships. What’s worse is that even if AI wants to change, he is incapable of doing so. AI will retire ringless unless he tags along somewhere at the end of his career. . | Posted by
bwill
on 07.17.2008 | Portland or the clippers will take the nuggets spot. With this trade denver put themselves out of the playoff mix. . | Posted by
Tim
on 07.16.2008 | Yahh Boi, your an absolute idiot, how can a.i and melo not be overrated, you said it yourself, they are in the top 5 in scoring in the nba, yet they havent made it past the first round the last 2 seasons. Your obviously very smart dude....NOT . | Posted by
franchise
on 07.16.2008 | trading your best defensive player when youre defense is already terrible simply puts the team out of playoff contention. Dener just opened the door to G.S. and portland (or clips) for the 8th spot. . | Posted by
franchise
on 07.16.2008 | iverson’s play for the first time in a while however did drop in the post season. from 27-6 in the season to 24-4.5 isnt great. but he is a great player. but to this deal, this deal is retarded good job denverfor givin up playoff contention(unless they pull off a deal for a centre in the process) . | Posted by
franchise
on 07.16.2008 | I dont think iverson is overrated... but melo kinda is. his playoff performance the last few years has shown that he isnt that playoff performer yet anyways. but a 0-5 record in terms of gettin in the first round is pretty bad considering he has been in the league 5 yrs i thought t-mac’s 0-7 through 11 yrs was bad. but carmelo does need to show people that he can be a superstar on offense and definitely on defense because his defense was terrible vs the lakers and he was guarding luke walton for god sakes. no excuses for missin all of those layups that series. . | Posted by
yahh boi
on 07.16.2008 | "that’s what’s up" is a f**king dumba$$... carmelo and a.i. overrated??? who do you like the heat? the bulls? b/c your just looking for sombody to hate on b/c your team sucks a$$...... ohh yeah melo’s 07-08 stats were 25.7 pts., 7.4 rbs., and 3.4 ast. and a.i.’s stats were 24.5 pts., 3.00 rbs., and 4.5 ast. if you didn’t know or if you were to busy hating on somebody else... f**king b**ch...... why don’t you get your head out of your a$$ and watch some basketball every now and then...... ohh and not to mention both carmelo and a.i. were in the top 5 leading scorers in the nba......... . | Posted by
Jordan!
on 07.16.2008 | Who is going to play center for the Nuggets? Well, the Nuggets problems have been obvious from the get go. They don’t play defense. There is no post game. There’s little ball movement besides jacking up quick shots. Part of the defense problems could be due to the constant roster adjustments at every position except SF and SG too. . | Posted by
B_Deezy
on 07.16.2008 | with camby out of the picture, can we all be witness to the re-birth of kenyon martin...i think not . | Posted by
Luke
on 07.16.2008 | I’m an idiot and I apologize, but I still like the move for the Nugget assuming they do something with the exceetion. . | Posted by
ronh
on 07.16.2008 | The clippers are going to have a good front line with Kaman and Camby. With baron davis they might sneak into the playoffs in the wild west. . | Posted by
O.sandor
on 07.16.2008 | Hi Ed, Thanks for reading and asking such good questions. I’m out of the office until late afternoon. However, I will absolutely answer your questions, so come on back then and keep reading. Thanks! . |
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Oly Sandor | Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More |
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