The 35 year old Marcus Camby was traded to Portland near the trade dead line to sure up Portland's often injured front line of Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla. He then inked a 2 year extension with the Blazers last month for over $17M. That extension also includes up to $5M in performance based incentives. When I saw the initial figures, I was shocked. Camby, a former #1 overall pick out of UMass, couldn't be worth $9M as 37 year old.. or could he?
Camby has led the league in blocked shots per game 4 times during his career and was the Defensive Player of the Year in '06-07. And this year, at age 35, he led the league in rebound rate, finishing slightly ahead of Dwight Howard. Additionally, he finished 5th in the league in blocked shots per game while managing to foul at a rate lower than everyone ahead of him in blocks. Considering his value as a rebounder and shot blocker, he still managed to finish above the league average in charges taken per game. Despite finishing this season 2.5 points below his career point average of 10.4 points per, his defensive value is still top notch.
Camby was basically given away by the Nuggets to the Clippers for a 2nd round pick because of his contract. His contract was too big for the Nuggets, despite winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award for them. Now the Blazers inked him to terms just slightly less than what the Nuggets were paying him when he was 2 years younger. And is it worth it? You bet it is. Every penny
Here is video of Camby recording a triple- double with the Nuggets. He had 10 blocks in the game and even splashed a 3-pointer
