The Toronto Raptors acquired Marcus Camby from the New York Knicks in their trade deal with Andrea Bargnani and although they were the franchise that drafted him, the star did not want to play there and after a buyout he is targeting the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers and Warriors as possible destinations.
According to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, the Knicks can't sign back Camby after trading him due to the CBA trade rules and now he has narrowed his options to Miami, Houston, Chicago and the Clippers. The 39-year-old Camby could be a solid presence on the bench and will add veteran depth to any of those team and he is interested in trying to make a championship run with one of those contenders. Camby was not interested in rebuilding with the Raptors and general manager Masai Ujiri obliged and bought out his contract, which will become official soon.
Camby would likely be signed using the mid-level exception or to a minimum contract, but his main priority is winning anyway. The Clippers would love to add him to play behind both DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, as they don't have too much depth after losing Ronny Turiaf. The teams that are going after Greg Oden in the Heat, Spurs and Pelicans could also go after Camby depending on what Oden does, as he could give some depth to the roster even though he is much older. Oden, the former number one pick, is just 25-years-old and despite playing in just 82 games in his career, he finally appears to be healthy.
Camby looks healthy now after dealing with injuries the past two seasons and playing in just 43 games and the main reason he was moved in the first place was money, as he was set to get $8.5 million for the next two seasons but only $1 million of that was guaranteed. The Rockets are also reportedly interested in adding Mike Miller, as they feel he could add some offensive firepower to the bench after signing Dwight Howard and along with James Harden he could play as big a part as he did with the Miami Heat as they made three finals appearances in three years.
The Raptors already signed Tyler Hansbrough as well as DJ Augustin and now Camby will be out as Ujiri tries to make more moves in the offseason. Camby would be a solid addition to all those contending teams and they all need someone who can eat some minutes and who can rebound and play solid defense. Camby was originally the number two pick for the Raptors and since he is up there in age, he did not want to stay around while the team was building up again and now he clearly will be on the move to one of those contending teams.
