The Los Angeles Clippers officially found a seat at the table this summer. Earlier in the week, the team made a lateral head-scratcher in acquiring Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Camby was well-liked by fans and teammates. The trade didn't seem to accomplish much of anything with both Blake and Outlaw in the last years of their contracts - as is Marcus.
On Wednesday, it became clear that the Portland deal was a preliminary move as LA became trade facilitator between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards.
By taking on Drew Gooden in the blockbuster that landed Antawn Jamison with the Cavaliers and Zydrunas Ilgauskas with the Wizards - LA was able to clear both Sebastian Telfair and Al Thornton off their books.
That's huge.
From the Clippers' perspective - that's a home run.
Moving Telfair and Thornton, who both had a year left on their deals, puts the Clippers at the magic number of $16 million in cap space as of July.
That's enough to make a max offer to the top-flight summer free agents - but make no mistake - this is all about LeBron James.
It's an interesting gambit. If LA's contribution to the deal helps the Cavaliers win a title - there's a better chance than not that James re-signs with his club.
If Cleveland doesn't get to the NBA Finals - or if they do for the second time in four years but don't clinch - the feeling in Los Angeles is that James will look for greener pastures.
That's right; the Clippers - probably for the first time in franchise history - would be pulling for their rival L.A. Lakers should they face the Cavs in the Finals. That's unheard of.
Further buzz had Cleveland and Washington making a deal regardless of whether LAC was in on it or not - so it's not necessarily the case that the Clippers hurt their own chances by helping the Cavs land Jamison.
Other than losing nice-guy Camby for a younger but not as accomplished Gooden, the team upgraded with Blake over an injured Telfair (a groin injury may keep him out another month or more) - and Outlaw may be a step up over Thornton who had peaked in LA.
After the trade, the Clippers have just four players under guaranteed contracts this summer (Baron Davis, All-Star Chris Kaman, Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. They also have DeAndre Jordan on a partially guaranteed minimum deal and a first round pick to draft in June.
Accounting for roster holds and an estimated salary cap at $54 million, the Clippers will have $17.2 million in space. The max for LeBron as a free agent will be $16.6.
That doesn't include LA's first-round pick which is an unpredictable wrinkle. Currently LA is at 21-33, 10th worst record in the league. They've won one of their last 11 games - and none since Interim Head Coach Kim Hughes (0-5) took over for Mike Dunleavy.
The Clippers will win again this season but let's be honest - they're in full-on tank mode. With 28 games to pay, they'll be lucky to hit 28 wins overall.
They should be able to overtake the remaining down-trodden teams except for the New Jersey Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors.
At fourth-worst record, LA would have roughly a 12% chance of landing the top pick (for the second year in a row). The presumption is that Kentucky's John Wall will be the #1 selection.
Interestingly enough, LeBron has a special and personal relationship with Wall. Should lightning strike twice for the Clippers, John may be an additional draw. The complication is that Wall's salary would eat into the max dollar amount LA can offer James.
But that's down the road - the Draft Lottery is in May which will help set the Clippers cap number.
Internally the Clippers are optimistic about the summer, thinking they have a unique package to offer a player like LeBron (not a player like LeBron - the real, actual LeBron).
While the New York Knicks, who are struggling to get Jared Jeffries off their books might have $23.8 million in cap space. That leaves only $7.2 million left to add a high level talent to the mix. Is that enough for New York to keep All-Star David Lee? Not likely by the time James agrees to a deal.
Should the Knicks find a way to salvage the Tracy McGrady trade - a deal they nearly had before the Houston Rockets came up with a package for the Sacramento Kings' Kevin Martin - they might be able to get their number up to around $32 million.
Given the size of the New York market - along with the chance to lure in a Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, etc. to join James in Gotham - the Knicks may be the biggest threat to LA's dream scenario.
The other teams with spending power include the New Jersey Nets, Miami HEAT, surprisingly the Washington Wizards and the Chicago Bulls.
None have quite the balanced team the Clippers can offer James.
Conversely, the Clippers don't have the winning reputation. It's certainly a major gamble for LA but what did they really give up?
Joe Johnson would probably be a distant second for LA in lieu of James.
To get far enough under the cap, the Clippers would have to waive the rights to all their free agents - but that's not a move they need to make until their targeted acquisition has agreed to terms and is ready to sign.
Meanwhile - players in the Clipper locker room are disillusioned. Their team has given up on them, making plans for next year, while they're still in the heat of a losing battle.
Kaman said he wished the team would have let him know before the trade it was announced - or even agreed to so he can try to sway them away from it - but even Chris had to concede his team didn't play well this season. It's not like the players gave management any reason to keep the unit together.
DeAndre Jordan in particular seemed shook-up by the wheeling and dealing - especially with the loss of his mentor in Camby.
Season-ticket holders aren't too happy either - but this may be the one true chance the Clippers have to land an elite player.
Even if it's a fool's errand, LA has the shot to be rejected first-hand by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Given their places in the history of the NBA - at least the Clippers can say they took a shot at both transformational players.
If the gambit pays off . . . it's a game-changer.
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