An L.A. heist? Why the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby from the Nuggets

July 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.

26 Comments: An L.A. heist? Why the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby from the (...)

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! .

Posted by
Ed
on 07.16.2008

I agree with you Tim. I’ve never liked Anthony and although I used to be a great fan of A.I what is he doing now so I have a few questions for you Oli: who’s to blame for the Nugget’s disaster, can Iverson ever adapt to playing in a TEAM after more than a decade being the always-go-to man in Phily?is he too old...?i mean if cp3 played for the nuggets with the roster they had last year they would have been candidates to win the ring so has Iverson stopped being that elite player he once was or is it a more complex team problem? .

Posted by
Tim
on 07.16.2008

I totally agree with below comments, anthony, iverson are overrated. Look how many big name players they had on the nuggets, and they couldnt even make it past the first round. The players in the team (especially melo and a.i) should have made sacrifices instead of going after their 26 ppg. Look at what boston was able to do in its first season with 2 great scorers (ray and paul), and a great defender (kg). And trust me, a.i, and melo are even better individually than ray and paul, yet they are selfish, hence why boston was able to do so good while denver hasn’t. Marcus camby was the only good thing in Denver, imagine how bad they will be now without marcus, theyre already a bad defensive team as it is. Im predicting they wont even make the playoffs this year ? what do u guys think ? oh, does anyone know what the clippers starting lineup would be know with camby and kaman, do u guys think it will work ? LA is certainly looking much better now tho than it was when elton left. .

Posted by
That’s what’s up!
on 07.16.2008

Denver is giving up with this trade? It shows that Anthony and Iverson are in no way top players. They CANT HOLD Kobe, leBron, Wade, Dirk, Nash, KG or C3P. Not even close. Yeah, that’s what’s up! Overrated Denver. Overrated Iverson and ANthony. Get at me if you disagree FOOLS .

Posted by
O. Sandor
on 07.15.2008

Hi Luke, thanks for reading, Like you, I was waiting for information. I posted my initial story, as more info broke, I updated. You just beat me to it. Of course, I’m aware that Denver now has cap space in the form of a 10 million dollar trade exception.Here’s the question that "What the deal posed’: will they use it? On Tuesday night, the Nuggets weren’t sure if they would use the space. It was described by ’exec’ Rex Chapman as a fluid situation. Denver really is in an interesting spot, they may consider taking a step back and reducing more salary in order to go forward in future seasons or they could use the cap space to add players and take another run in the west. It will be fun to watch. Thanks for reading. .

Posted by
What’s the deal?
on 07.15.2008

Actually he’s mentioned that Denver gets: money! Oly: do you believe Denver will go after free agents with the cap space or continue to get cheaper and look to rebuild. Iverson’s expiring contract is an assett would they move him, too? .

Posted by
Luke
on 07.15.2008

Wow, what do you REALLY do for a living? Why no mention of the TEN MILLION dollar trade exception Denver now has, as well? Do your homework, putz. .

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	About 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

An L.A. heist? Why the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby from the Nuggets

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