The pocket aces here might be Camby's long friendship with Bill Bayno (Bill has known Marcus since he was in 9th grade and helped recruit him to UMass where he was an assistant under Calipari). If it works out and he likes the situation here from a basketball perspective and a the two sides can agree on a salary figure (something in the range of 7 million for two years, with a partially guaranteed third year might be close?) then I'd really like to bring him back. The idea of trading Joel hurts a little bit, but maybe next season Joel's expiring, plus one or two of Rudy, Bayless or Martell could be lumped together to bring back a real (as in proven) long term answer in the back-court to pair with Roy -- although whom that might be still seems pretty nebulous.
If KP works his magic on draft day and lands us DeMarcus Cousins I think Mike Rice should just quit. LaMarcus, DeMarcus, and Marcus, his head just might explode.
Although I like Iggy, I do like having Webster's ability to spread the floor. Roy had a tough enough time adapting to Miller. Adding Iggy to that mix may not work.
If the Clips had the same talent and the same money to offer in a contract I could see Camby signing down there. But the Clippers are rebuilding, I don't think they'll use the bulk of their salarly cap space to bring in a 36 year old center. We can offer Camby a few million more than the MLE, in the end players follow the money.
I think the same thing. There are certain players that when they reach the latter stages of their career, they are more about quality of life than chasing the ring. Hedo comes across as one of those players and so does Camby to me. Not dogging Camby, but the fact he was upset being traded away from the Clippers tells me something. I think he picks a city he likes for his family and an organization he is comfrotable with. I don't know if Camby is a Ptd city kind of guy . . . doesn't come across as one to me at first glance. Then there is always the issue of whether Camby fits well with the Blazer team . . . not a done deal yet.
More than the dollars per year, I wonder how many guaranteed years it would take to re-sign Camby. I'd rather an "overpriced" one-year deal to several guaranteed years at a smaller average annual salary. Much less risk to a one-year deal and having two large expiring contracts (Przybilla and Camby) could give Pritchard something to work with. So, if the Blazers want to keep him, I hope they offer him one year but more dollars for that year than he could realistically find elsewhere.
There are a lot of players that don't want to come to Portland because of the weather. He could sign with Miami, Orlando, Houston, Dallas or SA and earn less, but make as much because of state taxes.
My first thought when I opened this thread was that you can't keep Camby, Oden, & Pryz on next year's roster. Then I remembered that all three are injury prone. And that Camby is fluid enough to play b/u PF. Still, playing time will be an issue if they are all healthy. I guess if Pryz comes back healthy (possibly big if) he would make a good trading piece next season - he's also an expiring next year. (I'm assuming he picks up his player option this summer)
I want to see how the "audition" goes, but if it is a good fit, the one thing that might brign Camby back is if he thinks he has a shot at a ring with this group. He will figure that out when he plays with them this spring. Does this group havea shot with him aboard? The answer to that question will probably be more important to re-signing him than anything else.
Unfortunately the wife usually has a way of becoming the most important thing. Exhibit A, Turkeyglue.
Historically wives have loved this city. I'd say there's just as good a chance of her coming up here and liking the city. I've lived in LA. LA is a shit hole.
If you have Roy and Batum on the floor with those three you have a huge team that can still get the ball up the floor. It wouldn't work for an entire game but if you need to shut down scoring in paint it would be a fine line up.
I think you guys are overreacting. LA is a pretty terrible place to raise a family or be married. Its great for single people and for the weather, but the people here are kind of shitty overall. He probably was initially shocked, hates disruptions..but Portland is a pretty nice city to live in. All depends on what he likes...not every player lives in the city they play in....at least full year.
Plus they can buy a huge house here at a fraction of the cost that it would take to live in LA. Most people don't buy down there. It's so damn expensive. 500k to 1 million gets you a fucking mansion in Portland/Tualatin/Lake O.
If he signed for $6 million per year with one of those teams it would be the equivalent of being paid $6.4million by the Blazers. Only half of his salary would be taxed by Oregon (41 games) and that would be at an 11% state tax rate. So yes it is a difference but the Blazers could easily substantially out-bid MLE teams. Players have to file state taxes for every arena where they play a game, not where their home team is based out of. Yeah it's a bit harder than my taxes
In 3 seasons Greg has played 0,61,21 games for 82 total games out of 246 possible games or 33% In 6 seasons Joel has played 76,56,43,77,82,30 games for 364 total games out of 492 possible games or 74% In 14 seasons Marcus has played 63,63,46(of 50),59,63,29,29,72,66,56,70,79,62,51(of 52) games for 808 total games out of 1086 possible games or 74% If we expect the same probabilities for these guys to play games next season then the chance that all 3 would be healthy for a single game is .33*.74*.74 = 18% Next I decided to look at minutes played out of possible games. Greg has played 1816 minutes out of 246 possible games which is 7.4 MPG Joel has played 8406 minutes out of 492 possible games which is 17.1 MPG Camby has played 24,824 minutes out of 1086 possible games which is 22.9 MPG All 3 of those added together are 47.4MPG or less than the full minutes at a single position of a regulation game. Notes: 1. For Joel I only included games and minutes played since coming to Portland in 2004, prior to that I don’t believe he was a regular rotational player. 2. Now there is an argument that Greg has a smaller sample size with his injuries so the true probability of him playing is higher than 33%. I’m sure that is a possibility, but it’s also very likely he is injured again or has extreme foul issues so I used the actual data even though I hope he reverses the trend. 3. Joel is going to be coming off a major surgery and will not be at full strength for the start of the year, even when he completely recover he may have difficulty reaching the level of performance as he had attained over the previous 6 seasons. So his probability of being healthy could be understated.
Those are some interesting numbers, but it's hard to bank on injuries happening. Yes, it's great to have insurance in case Oden goes down again, or Joel, or Camby, but what happens if they're all healthy, all season? I'm not sure we will be able to entice Camby to come back if he has to contend for minutes with two other starter-quality centers. With that said, if Oden goes down for the season again in 2010-2011, or sustains a major injury of any sort, it will be time to move on at that position. I'd start Camby for another year or two while we try to find a suitable replacement.
