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July 16, 2008
Nuggets trade Camby for cap relief
It’s interesting, all the head-scratching among NBA fans about how the Denver Nuggets got so little for Marcus Camby.
They got plenty; they restored financial sanity.
The Nuggets dumped at least $10 million, and as much as $11.2 million, in salary-cap obligation next season by moving Camby for a conditional second-round pick. Since the Nuggets were deep into luxury-tax territory, the financial relief is actually a lot more than $10 million.
The Nuggets had little choice but to make this kind of deal when it became available. They’re paying $14 million or more next season to each of three players (Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin) and they had to find that relief.
The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the few teams with sufficient cap room to absorb Camby’s salary without discarding a contract to Denver. That’s the only reason the Clippers got a starter-quality center (he’ll technically play power forward, alongside Chris Kaman).
It’s similar to what the Bobcats did in the Jason Richardson deal. On those few occasions when he spoke with media, managing partner Michael Jordan always reminded us cap room is as valuable in trade as in free-agency; perhaps more so, because it's more reliable than dealing with agents.
I just wonder if the Bobcats used this strategy once too often last season, when they acquired Nazr Mohammed from the Detroit Pistons, in return for expiring contracts (Walter Herrmann and Primoz Brezec).
I’m not knocking Mohammed; he’ll continue to be a valuable backup. But I wonder about paying him an average of $6.4 million over the next three seasons.
Posted by Observer Sports on July 16, 2008 at 01:16 PM | Permalink
Comments
Come on, Rick...many of us have been wondering about Mohammed's salary since the moment we traded him. It was a silly trade at the time, and it continues to be. We were going to do the same thing with Nazr as without: miss the playoffs. So why not keep Brezec and Herrmann--misused and unproductive as they were--and see what that cap space could have done us this summer?
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 1:42:16 PM
It's frustrating to see all these deals going down and none of them involving the Bobcats.
Posted by: apauldds | Jul 16, 2008 1:42:30 PM
Procton, at the time of the trade I don't think it was completely apparent what a total loser Sam Vincent was. I think there was still some hope of a postseason.
Posted by: apauldds | Jul 16, 2008 1:55:24 PM
Yes, but Nazr Mohammed was obviously not the answer.
As for the current players, Augustin's game from a scoring standpoint was incredible yesterday. 30 points on 14 shots is a good number regardless of who you're playing. Also good to see him hitting the boards with some good effort (6 in 30 minutes, 3 offensive.) Orien Greene looked pretty good again, and Kyle Hines had a nice game (14-8 in 18 minutes) along with James Mays (12-4 in 24 minutes) as they angle to try and get a training camp invite. Signs of life from Kyle Weaver for the first time, too: only 7 points, but he led the team with 4 assists and shot 3-5.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 2:07:08 PM
The trade was made Dec. 14 and the season wasn't over. We desperately needed another big who could play some D and not be a target for opponents to draw fouls against - ie Primoz.
The problem wasn't getting Nazr, it was that Vincent started McInnis. Ridiculous!
Posted by: Yeah? | Jul 16, 2008 2:07:54 PM
Interesting, too, that Brandan Wright did almost nothing against Hines, Mays, Brandon Wallace, and Chuck Davis in the post (Davidson and Hollins only combined for 13 minutes.) Just 11-5 with 6 fouls in 34 minutes. Defensive effort wasn't great from our guards: 30 and 23 from their starting backcourt (Marco Belinelli and CJ Watson.)
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 2:10:20 PM
the clippers shopped a 2nd rd pick, i repeat a 2ND ROUND PICK, to the knicks first to get z-bo, which was rejected, but then they got marcus camby for the same offer. a second round pick is the equivalent of trading marcus camby for towels used to wipe the court/wipe sweat off, or a case of gatorade for the team practices, or office supplies for fred whittfield's staff. my point is the bobcats cant move an expiring rookie contract like morrison, or one with a year left on it like may, or a player like hollins or davidson who make peanuts for no more then a year or two max for this type of stuff? they are better offers then 2ND rounders, are they not? they are actual players who have touched a floor in a real nba game, a future 2nd rounder has not. marcus camby was defensive player of the year once for god sakes, and the bobcats cant swing something like this? jason richardson's trade took more then cap space, it took guts. did we trade them to golden state too, because look at all the moves they have made this offseason.
dear mik-arry bro-dan,
make a move that helps the team this offseason.
all our love,
the fans
Posted by: brendan | Jul 16, 2008 2:21:25 PM
Everyone still believe Augustin is a) a "pass-first" PG and b) not a complete liability on defense???
The guy can score and has good range, but if this is what we wanted from a player we should have drafted Bayless, who is a much better player and talent.
Posted by: Mason | Jul 16, 2008 2:34:24 PM
Mason, how often do you think he's going to be playing next to Kyle Weaver this season? Honestly. He does what is required of him by his team and his coach. And honestly, if he's getting to the line and he's going to shoot 50% from the field, I don't care if he takes more shots than anybody on the team. I wouldn't care if Felton took 30 shots and 10 3s a game if he was actually making those baskets.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 2:42:41 PM
Come on Procton, you'd still find a reason to harp on Felton.
Posted by: apauldds | Jul 16, 2008 3:08:38 PM
Mason,
I guess we wanted a durable pg out of the draft, not one that will be out a lot like Bayless will be. He will be the player that everyone says "he's great, when healthy".
Posted by: Dougie | Jul 16, 2008 3:25:34 PM
Well then I guess it's fortunate for me that he'll never be able to do that, else I'd have to actually do some digging to find the flaws in his game.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 3:39:29 PM
I guess this means we over paid for Richardson then?
If cap room and avoiding the lux tax is that important then we shouldn't have given up a top 10 pick for him.
Based on Richardson's age and production Vs Camby's age and production (keeping in mind Camby is also a DPOY AND an all star PLUS his deal expires earlier) then we should have only given up a late 1st round pick for Richardson at best.
Posted by: Ripped off | Jul 16, 2008 4:14:36 PM
No way. Richardson is SEVEN years younger, much more durable (74 games a year compared to Camby's 58) and serves a more valuable role as a leading scorer and deadly outside shooter (4th-highest total in NBA history last year.) We didn't overpay, the Clippers just got a great deal because the Nugs are desperate.
As for the comparison in production, they're both great players, but at least one system that quantifies player production in all categories had Richardson 14th in the league last year and Camby 37th. 23 spots is a lot when you're talking about the top 40 players in the league.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 4:29:47 PM
Sorry...forgot to mention that was the Sportsline player rankings system.
Oh, and Mason, from the Bobcats.com blog:
"After two games of seeing D.J. Augustin play in person – I’m a believer. Nobody on the court can guard this guy. He is slicing through double-teams like a hot knife through butter, and making excellent decisions with the basketball. The stat sheets don’t reflect this, but HE IS REALLY FINDING HIS TEAMMATES FOR GOOD OPPORTUNITIES. He is steady becoming more vocal, and seems ready to contribute for the upcoming season."
What they're not allowed to say on there is that I've seen teammate after teammate not be able to finish at the rim or on open jumpers when Augustin finds them.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 4:40:02 PM
You didn't answer part B of the question, he is a huge liability on defense. He gave up 30 points and while the bobcat blog thinks he is the real deal, Thrope, from espn has his questions, as I have already posted several times. Augustin is lighting quick and can score, but I still think we should have taken Bayless if we wanted a scoring PG. No way to know until the season ends so its not worth arguing over it now.
On a side note, what is the team's field goal percentage for the 3 games?
Posted by: Mason | Jul 16, 2008 6:28:01 PM
You can watch the game against the Warriors here and make your own conclusions about DJ: http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/summer_league/mayo_oj_080714.asx&video=blank
As for the Bobcats.com blog, I think that everyone who write for it does a good job and I think the opinion/info has value.
Posted by: Yeah? | Jul 16, 2008 6:56:06 PM
Apparently that link is wrong. However, once you are at the player, just go to the teams tab in the top right and select the Bobcats.
Posted by: Yeah? | Jul 16, 2008 6:58:04 PM
.453. And no, he didn't give up 30 points. Belinelli is a 6'5" SHOOTING guard, who should have been covered by "defensive stopper" Kyle Weaver.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 16, 2008 7:03:49 PM
And we're taking bobcats.com blogs as gospel? They sell tickets on that site, right? Not saying Augustin won't be a good player, but their analysis has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Posted by: Mike Persinger | Jul 16, 2008 9:44:35 PM
I wouldn't say anybody views them as gospel, but with the film quality of the summer league coverage, that's probably the best game-to-game report we can get.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jul 17, 2008 12:24:18 AM
Wow, I'm finally for the first time ever agreeing with Procton.
Mike Persinger, do you really feel its appropriate to take a shot at bobcats.com and the team, considering the ONLY blog your boy Bonnell here has produced regarding Las Vegas was to tell us Larry Brown got a technical foul and he wasn't there? Wow, thanks Bonnell and Persinger. That barely qualifies as news. I'll take analysis "with a grain of salt" as you say vs. no analysis, which is what you get here.
What exactly did you pay Bonnell to go out to Vegas for? How hard would it be for you to at least post a box score since you refuse to give us coverage/commentary?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Posted by: James S. | Jul 17, 2008 7:21:37 AM
James,
I didn't mean it so much as a shot as a commonsense statement of fact: Sites like Bobcats.com, Panthers.com, NASCAR.com, PGATour.com, etc., have writers on the payroll of those entities. They write with that in mind -- all put the team/sport spin on the story, they avoid controversial topics, etc. In this case, as you'll note in today's story from Rick, they agree -- both Rick and Bobcats.com think Augustin is for real.
And it's not a criticism. It's only smart for those writers not to bite the hand that feeds them. No better way to end up on the street, I'd say. My comment was a caution to filter everything you read there through that lens.
As for Rick in Las Vegas, if you think this blog is all we got from him out there, you haven't been reading too closely.
There is lots of copy from Vegas at http://www.charlotte.com/bobcats/
Posted by: Mike Persinger | Jul 17, 2008 10:28:26 AM
Is there any possibility that we can trade for:
Al Harrington
Charlie Villanueva
Jeff Green
This guys will be great for us and might be expendable in their teams. Harrington will be the best fit.
Posted by: RobC | Jul 17, 2008 2:40:43 PM
Is there any possibility you could shut the f up? thanks.
Posted by: Yeah?ok | Jul 19, 2008 9:14:54 AM
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