The Toronto Raptors were happy to get rid of Andrea Bargnani and his large contract after general manager Masai Ujiri traded him to the New York Knicks and despite getting some players in return, Steve Novak will be the only one left, as Marcus Camby signed with the Houston Rockets after Toronto bought out his deal.
Camby came over along with Quentin Richardson and Novak in the trade and Richardson has said that he would like to be released or traded and now Camby has moved on to another team as well. According to ESPN.com, Camby signed with the Rockets on a veteran minimum deal of $1.4 million and rejoins the team after spending time with the Knicks. The signing gives the Rockets three centers in Dwight Howard and Omer Asik and there is a chance that Asik could be moved now that the team has depth, as he said that he was unhappy with the Howard move.
Camby comes over after playing with the Knicks and he was bought out after being owed $7.5 million over the final two years on his deal and now he is back with the Rockets. Last season he played in 24 games and averaged just over one point per game and he played 19 games for the Rockets the previous season. Camby was originally drafted by the Raptors and now gives the team some veteran depth at the position with Howard and Asik. Camby said he was excited to return and he was reportedly considering the Bulls and the Clippers as well.
Richardson has not been moved yet, but according to Yahoo Sports, the Bulls could be in play and a move on Richardson would mean that Ujiri kept only Steve Novak from the Bargnani deal. Bargnani was a huge disappointment since being taken number one overall by the Raptors and he dealt with injuries last season, averaging 12 points on 40 percent shooting while setting out for 47 games, but now he appears healthy. Ujiri's major priority this offseason was to trade Bargnani and he took care of that quickly before signing some other players to build the roster around Rudy Gay. The 27-year-old now has the chance to start over in New York and a 2016 first-round pick and second-rounders in 2014 and 2017 were also thrown into the deal, something the Knicks may regret later on.
The Knicks also re-signed JR Smith and Pablo Prigioni and they feel that this season they have a good chance at getting to the Eastern conference finals. Camby was bought out after playing in 973 games in his career and the Raptors also made a move after that to amnesty forward Linas Kleiza and that allowed them to make moves in signing Tyler Hansbrough and DJ Augustin. The 25-year-old point guard will backup Kyle Lowry this season after being a top 10 pick out of Texas for the Bobcats and he comes in after averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 assists in 76 games last season with the Pacers. Hansbrough was a solid signing as well, as he gives the team depth up front and a tenacious player that averaged 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 246 games with the Pacers as well.
