While this NBA off-season has lacked household names like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, it has more than made up for its shortage
of star power with exciting free agent dramatics.
Baron Davis kicked things off by leaving Golden State to play with his buddy Elton Brand in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Davis, Brand decided to head to the Eastern Conference and pursue his title dreams with the Philadelphia 76ers.
This left the Clippers with quite a bitter taste in their mouth, but also a lot of cap room. They decided to use part of that cap room Wednesday by trading for veteran big man Marcus Camby. So just how much is the reigning NBA shot block king worth?
As it turns out, he’s not worth a whole lot. Denver traded the defensive guru for what basically amounts to a box of Cracker Jacks. For the rights of Camby’s services, the Clippers only had to give the Nuggets the option of switching second round draft picks in 2010. Go ahead and let that sink in for a moment.
The Nuggets were the eighth seed in the Western Conference last season and atrocious on defense, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to get rid of their best defensive player. It does provide them with some much needed cap relief, but when that comes at the expense of a playoff berth, I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Although the Camby deal is hard to stomach, it’s not even the worst trade involving a Los Angeles team in recent history. Here are three recent trades that made the Camby-for-a-swap-of-draft-picks look like a genius move by the Nuggets.
3) The Lakers trading Shaquille O’Neal to the Heat for Brian Grant, Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. Although the Lakers decision makers wouldn’t say it, this trade was more about Kobe and Shaq feuding than anything else. The Lakers are now back in title contention, but Miami won an NBA championship while Kobe and company watched from the comfort of their own homes.
2) The Memphis Grizzlies trading Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks. The Lakers received an all-star caliber big man without giving up any of their top-10 players, and the Grizzlies, well, the Grizzlies got nothing. Brown never lived up to potential and Crittenton is destined to be one of the most dynamic players in the Spanish league. The Lakers, on the other hand, are coming off of a trip to the NBA finals and look to make their way there a few more times in the coming years.
1) The biggest coup in LA history has to be the Hornets giving up Kobe Bryant in exchange for Vlade Divac. Divac was a popular player and solid big man, but Bryant has turned into one of the best players in the history of basketball. Divac will be remembered for teaching American basketball players how to flop while Bryant will be remembered for bringing three (and counting) championships to LA.
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their two teams, of course it has to resurface. We need some juicy gossip to stir up the pot a little.
