The Toronto Raptors will buy out veteran center Marcus Camby’s contract and put him on waivers, according to the Associated Press.
The former New York Knick was sent to Toronto as part of the Raptors trade with the Knickerbockers who received forward Andrea Bargani. The Raptors also recieved three-point specialist Steve Novak.
Camby’s contract gave him $7.5 million in the final two years of the deal. He said he wants to be on a contending team this season.
If the former Denver Nugget would have actually played any games with the Raptors it would have been like returning home. Campy was taken by the Raptors as the second overall pick in the 1996 draft.
Camby has been plagued by injury throughout his career and was only on the floor for 24 games during the 2012-2013 regular season with the Knicks. He averaged 1.8 points per games and 3.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes.
When healthy the UMass product has been a great rebounder and an outstanding rim protector. He has averaged 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks for his career. He also played with the Knicks earlier in his career from 1998 to 2002.
If he was injury-free last season Camby might have been able to help a Knicks team that could have used an extra rim protector during the regular season and the playoffs. Outside of former defensive player of the year Tyson Chandler, New York did not have much defensive help in the paint.
They were eventually able to sign forward Kenyon Martin. However, he did not join the team until more than half the season had passed.
Also, a fresh Camby may have been able to put up a better performance against Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert who dominated Chandler in the second round of the playoffs.
Tuesday, the Raptors said they will use their amnesty provision on small forward Linas Kleiza.
