Fantasy Basketball Implications of the Marcus Camby Trade
The Clippers are going to block a whole lot of shots, and grab a whole lot of boards with Chris Kaman and newly-acquired Marcus Camby. But how does that translate into fantasy statistics? Assuming no additional deal is made, and I think it is pretty safe to assume that right now, you have two shot-blocking, rebounding, offensively-limited centers playing on the same front line. For those fantasy leagues where players do not qualify as multiple positions, this isn’t a good thing.
The argument can be made that both players should still qualify as centers, but I’m going to guess it’s 50/50 whether that argument is going to stick in your league. As for how this will effect their statistical performance, it’s hard to say. The rebounding and block numbers for both guys should come down a little bit, but I think Kaman’s scoring should improve as he’ll be asked to play a lot more of the power forward position and score with his back to the basket. Kaman’s also a great interior passer, and having someone like Camby to dump down to should help his assist numbers.
With the loss of Corey Maggette and Elton Brand, plus the addition of Camby, the big fantasy winner might be Al Thornton. Thornton should start at the small forward spot and will be heavily relied on to pick up the scoring slack. He’ll be a very popular sleeper in this year’s draft.
The biggest fantasy concern with the trade? Injuries. Both Kaman and Camby are injury-prone big men. Now that there is a pretty nice handicap at the center position, it wouldn’t surprise me to see both guys play around the 65 games this upcoming season.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Ansonious says:
WORD
July 16th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Jay says:
fantasy doctor going to work early this year
July 16th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
the real marcus says:
i dunno… maybe it’s just me, but i smell 20+ missed games from camby…
…heck, if you’re traded to a moribound team, and assuming you don’t like the hell outta that place, well, might as well play soft and tank it…
July 16th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
jz_smoove says:
it will be a wicked year for the Clips, baron will be a top 3 scorer/assist man this year!!!
July 17th, 2008 at 6:25 am
imngloloupaw says:
ummmmm.. Kaman? Offensively limited??? Did you see the guy play last year? Give me 3 centers who have more moves on the block than Kaman…
July 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am
SL says:
Agreed…
I’m pretty sure Dime hasn’t watched much of Kaman. Dude is pretty nifty around the basket and is as ambidextrous as they come. He can def score down there. He’s not the most athletic, but he can get the job done. For the first couple months of the season last year, he was putting up 18 points a night easy as a top option.
But then again, can we really blame you for not watching the clip show?
July 17th, 2008 at 8:40 am
TJ says:
Yea, I don’t know if I would call Kaman offensively-limited. He was the 5th highest scoring center last year, which includes Amare even though we all know he’s a PF.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:45 am
imung lolo upaw says:
Nice call SL.. The Clips were pretty bad last year.. But Kaman was definitely one of the few bright spots along with AT..
July 17th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
MSkittle says:
Kaman is offensively limited? Didn’t he average 15 points a game last year?
October 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
the doctor's advocate says:
hey doc,
I’m in a 12 team league with 18 roster spots. My center eligible guys are al Jefferson, emeka okafor and Jason maxiell. I was thinking about dropping azubuike for another center eligible player. Pick up sean Williams or take a flyer on javale magee with haywood done for year? Doc or anyone else…I’d appreciate the input. Thanks.