The newest Clipper appears to be a straight shooter, which is always desirable for a pro basketball player.
Monday afternoon, at a news conference, Marcus Camby stood tall, all 6 feet 11, in his bright red vest. He looked everybody in the eye and didn't duck the hard stuff.
Yes, he was personally offended by how the Denver Nuggets handled his trade. Yes, he had told the Denver media he was shocked and insulted when told of it. No misquotes there.
And yes, while he understands that the NBA is a business, he will take a while to recover from being abruptly dispatched from a city that had become his home and a team that had become his family.
Especially upsetting to Camby were the terms. In return for a player who was their center and among the leading shot-blockers and defensive forces in the league -- defensive player of the year in 2006-07 -- Denver got the option of exchanging second-round draft picks with the Clippers in 2010.
That meant several things:
* That Denver, with 50 wins last year and a quick 4-0 exit to the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, is banking on Camby making the Clippers worse in the next two seasons, the last two on his contract. The lower the Clippers sink in the standings, the better Denver's draft choice becomes.
* That even then, Denver couldn't have cared too deeply about the deal because, as Camby said, about the usual future of second-round picks, "They'll probably get somebody who won't make the team, anyway."
* That, after 12 years in the league, the Nuggets disrespected his value. The question was put to him directly. Did he think they gave him away for nothing? He took a deep breath and answered: "Yes."
* That, like most things in life and everything in the NBA, this was all about money.
The anatomy of the deal was actually quite quick and easy, except for the pain it caused Camby.
Elton Brand and Corey Maggette said goodbye to the Clippers, suddenly leaving Donald Sterling, Andy Roeser and Elgin Baylor with money to spend under their salary cap. That was still the case, even after the Clippers owner, president and general manager had invested a bundle on unrestricted free agent and next season's star-in-waiting, Baron Davis, to get him from Golden State.
Coach Mike Dunleavy was working on a deal for Atlanta's Josh Smith, a 6-foot-9 forward and restricted free agent. The restricted part means that, were the Clippers to tender an offer, Atlanta could -- and in this case probably would -- match it. At the same time, there were talks with the Nuggets about Camby, the acquisition of whom made Dunleavy giddy.
