For the Record: Nuggets' Management was Aware that Getting So Little for Camby Was a Dumb Thing to do, Basketball-Wise

So many have excused the Nuggets franchise for getting almost nothing in return for Marcus Camby that in late July I made sure I posted as follows that the Nuggets' management itself was aware that this was a poor thing to do.

Here are excerpts from an interesting article about the Clippers. The whole article is here.

The Los Angeles Clippers introduced forward/center Marcus Camby on Monday at STAPLES Center. Acquired from the Denver Nuggets for a conditional second-round pick, Camby was still infuriated with what felt like a betrayal by his former team.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are very excited about their prospects this coming season.

"We have bigs that have mobility. We have bigs that block shots and rebound. We've got a big in Chris Kaman who can score in the post against anybody," said Coach Mike Dunleavy. "Marcus and Chris, I think they fit very well together."

In addition to the Camby acquisition, the Clippers have recently added former All-Star Baron Davis, rookie shooting guard Eric Gordon and have an offer sheet out to Golden State Warriors' forward/guard Kelenna Azubuike.

The Clippers didn't dwell long on the loss of marquee forwards Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, making quick use of their cap room to bring in two well-established veterans in Camby and Davis.

After Davis followed through on his promise to sign with the club, LA called the Nuggets to see if Camby was available.

"When you have a lot of cap space, the first thing you do is you hit teams with luxury tax situations. If you'd like some cap relief, we can talk," said Dunleavy. "They countered with another player, a first round pick, all this stuff. We told them we had no interest - just Camby."

LA moved on and were on the verge of signing an expensive restricted free agent to an offer sheet (thought to be Atlanta forward Josh Smith, although unconfirmed.)

"We took one more shot at Denver to see. We let them know we're pulling the trigger tomorrow," said Dunleavy of last week's dealings. "They came back and said they would do it. I've got a bad knee but I jumped pretty high when I heard that news."

The plan is to start Camby at power forward alongside Kaman at center. According to the coach, the starting lineup projects to include guard Cuttino Mobley, forward Al Thornton and Davis.

"I'm not here to replace Elton Brand. Elton is a terrific ballplayer," said Camby. "We're two different types of players. He does great things that I can't do. I do some things that he possibly can't do. I just want to make things work.

"We have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the basket. I'm not coming here to try and steal any shots. [b]I'm just going to do what I do: Pass the ball, play solid defense and be accountable on and off the court."

Camby fits their present needs and has a cap friendly contract that expires before the summer of 2010. The team believes they can be competitive for at least the next two seasons - but it doesn't hurt to have spending power the year LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire and host of other high level players become unrestricted free agents.

The Clipper feel Camby is the perfect fit.

"The leadership he brings - his presence on the court: the best defensive player in the league, top rebounder, top shot blocker, his playoff experience and maturity," extolled Roeser. "He's been in the playoffs eight of his 12 years. Between Baron Davis and Marcus Camby you have 110 games of playoff experience. Our goal is to get back in the playoffs and be competing and we wanted players with experience doing just that."

It's easy to remember a more spendthrift Clipper organization of the past few decades but in recent years, owner Donald Sterling has shown a willingness to invest in the team's future. To that end, the Clippers are confident they have a shot at one of the eight playoff seeds in the Western Conference.

"[Baron's] happy about being here. I'm happy about being here," said Camby. "With that mix between youth and veteran leadership I think this team can definitely go far - but with me saying that we all know we have a lot of hard work to do and that starts day one of training camp."

'Hopefully it means we're a great rebounding, shot blocking team which allows a point guard like Baron Davis to get more possessions and to be able to attack and get out in the open court - and we've got some guys who can fly," said Dunleavy. "Kaman is one of the faster big men in the league- Marcus is very fleet of foot. I think it just bodes well for or team - our chemistry, offensively, defensively I think he's just a great fit for our team."

You can see that the Nuggets, eager to cut payroll, tried to get a first rounder for Camby, but were told by the Clippers to take a hike. The Denver owner must have then ordered the Denver front office to give away Camby for basically nothing! Ouch!

For the record, it appears that the Nuggets' management was aware that getting so little for Camby was a dumb thing, basketball-wise, for the Nuggets to do.


















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