New York Knicks Acquire Marcus Camby in Sign-and Trade with Rockets

Apr 18, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Marcus Camby (29) waits for play to resume during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 117-110. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The New York Knicks got a dose of good news Monday night when they acquired center Marcus Camby as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Houston Rockets.

The Knicks will send Toney Douglas, Jerome Jordan and Josh Harrleson and a pair of second round picks (2014 and 2015) in exchange for the 38-year old center.

Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Camby’s deal is for three-years and $13.2 million and the final year includes a partial guarantee.

Camby has agreed to a three year, $13.2 million deal with the Knicks, source tells Y! The final year includes a partial guarantee.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 9, 2012

Camby’s presence will be huge as he can backup and lighten the load Tyson Chandler. He will provide a defensive presence who can still rebound, grabbing 9.0 boards per night in 2012. The Knicks didn’t have a capable backup for the Defensive Player of the Year last season and it became quite easy to score on the Knicks when Chandler wasn’t on the floor.

That won’t be the case next season.

If the Knicks can sign Jared Jeffries to a veteran’s minimum contract, the team will have a pair of defensive minded big men to backup Amar’e Stoudemire and Chandler.

The sign-and-trade for Camby allows the Knicks to use the $3 million non-taxpayers mid-level exception for Jason Kidd. The Knicks also were able to keep Dan Gadzuric, which means they could add guard depth by possibly using him in a sign-and-trade for $2 million.

Next up for the Knicks could be re-signing J.R. Smith, according to ESPN’s John Hollinger.

I’m hearing Knicks are now trying to wrap up J.R. Smith deal.

— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) July 9, 2012

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