Hooped Up

It’s official, Marcus Camby is now a member of the Portland Trail Blazers according to The Oregonian. In return, the Los Angeles Clippers receive $3 million from the Blazers, along with impending free agents Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw.

The Blazers have had serious injury issues in the middle with both Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla going down with season ending injuries. Thus far, Marcus Camby has had a good NBA campaign averaging 12.1 rebounds per contest.

On the way to a LA Clippers victory over the Washington Wizards 93-78, Marcus Camby had a game high 5 blocks. Meet two of them.

Another van glorious season of NBA basketball is about to begin and Hooped Up does a quick and dirty preview of all 30 clubs.

The LA Clippers have been the NBA’s best D-League team for years because they’ve developed so much good talent for other teams over the years. With the drafting of Blake Griffin, that needs to stop. Read More »

David Lee’s name comes up more often in trade talk then the word “eww” does when I watch an Eli Roth flick! Where is the double-double love y’all? The Knicks are just aching to trade this dude.

“The Portland Trail Blazers’ dogged pursuit of David Lee could result in Marcus Camby returning to New York. Knicks president Donnie Walsh denied that he is working on a three-way deal with the Blazers and Clippers, but several team sources confirmed that Walsh and the Knicks’ coaching staff have discussed the possibility of adding Camby, who was traded from Denver to the Clippers last July.”

NY Daily News

A little while after Camby was traded he was a bitter dude that wanted no part of the Clippers, now he’s come around and is ready for a new chapter.  I’d feel sorry for him but, oh ya he’s a millionare. Hell, if I had a time machine and had to play for the 1995 Vancouver Grizzlies, I’d be as happy as a girl in Bed & Body Works buying pump soap.  

“Whatever the reason, former Nuggets center Marcus Camby no longer openly harbors the bitterness that came over him when Denver traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers in a cost-cutting move July 13. Sure, Camby still believes the Nuggets could have handled the situation better, but he appears to have moved on from the days when he felt “blindsided, distraught, disrespected.” ”I was upset at the time, how things transpired out there in Denver, but after being out here, that is like a thing of the past right now,” Camby said during a telephone interview from Los Angeles. “I’m enjoying my new situation. I’m enjoying this new chapter of my career. I’m going to try to make the best of the situation, but I think the situation can be a great one and a promising one.” 

The Clippers acquired forward Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets today, so smile Baron!  In return the Nuggets will have the option to exchange second round picks with the Clippers in 2010. 

Getting Camby is a prettah, prettah….prettah good move on the Clippers part.  If they can just add Josh Smith to the mix we are talking LAX flight patrol as both Camby and Smith swat everything!

If they do get Smith I want shares from the LAX flight patrol shirts…no, I’m serious!

NBA

The Pistons really want Carmelo but, why not take Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby if it’s on the table?

The Pistons recently offered Billups and Tayshaun Prince for Anthony, but the Nuggets weren’t interested. Denver countered with an offer of Allen Iverson or a package with Marcus Camby, but the Pistons are only interested in Anthony.

Detroit Free Press

Why Denver would want to trade the best defensive player they have and arguably in the league is a mystery to me.

Nuggets center Marcus Camby, a possible moving piece during offseason roster shuffling, reiterated his desire to remain with Denver: “I want to be here, but I also want to be where I’m wanted.”

Asked if he currently felt wanted, Camby said, “I don’t know, I don’t know. Every other day there are (trade) rumors and stuff like that. I’m just trying to enjoy the offseason. That’s all I can really do at this point.”

Denver Post

Maybe the Nuggets know of a great rebounding and defensive center tree somewhere and will just pick on off to replace Marcus Camby.

The average NBA salary is $5.5 million a year, and the good life doesn’t stop there. The teams stay at hotels some marketers now say are six-star. The per diem is $21 more than baseball and hockey players receive. “It’s a nice little benefit,” said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, whose salary this season, including bonuses, could exceed $10 million. “They take care of us. But in those fancy hotels, that per diem is probably enough for a breakfast.”

Rocky Mountain News