Day 112 of 170: Back to Business

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Player News, Trades
Posted on: February 16th, 2010

Trade of the Day: It’s not quite official, but it looks like the Blazers are close to acquiring Marcus Camby from the Clippers in exchange for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. The Blazers are in obvious need of a big man after Oden and Przybilla went down earlier in the season and the Clippers are in obvious need of…. Steve Blake? I don’t know what the point of the trade is from the Clippers perspective since they won’t even save any money on the trade unless Portland kicks in some money as part of the deal.

From the Blazers point of view, Camby will immediately slide into the starting center role, pushing Juwan Howard back to the bench where he belongs. Camby, who has averaged 7.7 points and 12.1 rebound in 31 minutes a game this year, will also certainly see a slight increase in minutes on the Blazers. Howard averaged 32 minutes a game in a starting role and he’s Juwan Howard. Something in the range of 33-34 minutes a game would make sense for Camby. The trade also means good things for Andre Miller and Jerryd Bayless, who won’t have to split time with Blake when Brandon Roy returns to the court. However, their overall value remains the same due to the imminent return of Roy.

From the Clippers perspective, someone is going to have to fill in for Camby. That someone is probably second-year player DeAndre Jordan. Jordan has averaged 3.7 points and 3.6 boards in 12 minutes off the bench this year, making it tough to project whether he be worth owning in fantasy leagues or not. He has put up some good rebounding a block numbers in the limited starts he’s has and is probably worth a “let’s grab him and see what happens” kind of pickup if you’ve got room on your team.

Blake will slide into the backup PG role behind Baron Davis and will see a big hit in minutes and value, while Travis Outlaw is out for the immediate future recovering from a broken bone in his foot. When he returns (which may be soon), Outlaw will compete for time with Rasual Butler and Al Thornton and is worth keeping an eye on especially if the Clippers move Thornton.

All Eyez on Me: Back to real NBA action.

Dallas (32-20) at Oklahoma City (30-21) – Dallas heads to OKC with their new toy Caron Butler. The trade looks good from Dallas’ perspective, but we still have to see how the rotation shakes out – does Butler push Marion to the bench or do they play alongside each other. And how much court time is Brendan Haywood going to see playing behind Erick Dampier?

New York (19-32) at Chicago (25-26) – Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are questionable for this one, but expect them both to play. And the other hot trade rumor of the day involves the Knicks’ pursuit of Tracy McGrady and his $24 million expiring contract. Of course, based on what the Knicks would have to give up to get that contract (Jordan Hill and a bunch of draft picks along with Jarred Jeffries and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes), you have to wonder if it’s actually worth it.

The Golden Ticket: Golden State (14-37) at Los Angeles (41-13) – Andrew Bynum is questionable for this game and if he can’t go, Lamar Odom should be in for another great game. Monta Ellis is not going to play, rather he’s heading to Alabama to get his sprained left knee evaluated by Dr. James Andrews. Corey Maggette, who is involved in trade rumors himself (going to the Cavs if other options – i.e. Amar’e – fall through) is also questionable for the game.

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Tags: Marcus Camby, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw