Update: Marcus Camby and the Raptors agreed to waive set-off rights in his buyout, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com, which means Camby will make more than I previously calculated including a set-off. The post is now update to reflect accurate figures.
Marcus Camby really didn’t want to be in Toronto.
After being sent to the Raptors from the Knicks in the Andrea Bargnani trade, Camby sacrificed more than $600,00 just to leave town.
He accepted $2 million less than he was owed just to become a free agent, according ShamSports.com. But that doesn’t tell the whole story, because Camby signed a one-year, minimum contract with the Rockets that will somewhat compensate for his loss.
In the next two seasons, Camby will make $4,809,170 – $2,763,054 from the Raptors (including $646,609 next season), $884,293 from the Rockets and $515,214 from the NBA (the latter for reasons explained here).
If he had just stayed with Toronto, he had $5,409,663 guaranteed, including $1,025,890 next season.
All in all, that’s a net loss of $600,493 in salary.
Of course, Camby could recoup even more of his salary if he signs a contract for the 2014-15 season. But he’s already 39 and played just 250 minutes last season, so I’m not factoring that possibility into the equation. If Camby proves himself worthy of a contract at age 40, good for him. Plus, the lack of state income tax in Texas should help, too.
Still, Camby chose freedom to picky his team over a significant amount of money, and I hope that decision makes him happy in the long term.