Gone Camby Gone...

"The thing is, she always had a smile on her face. That was her. She was always smiling. I mean, who would take my little girl? She never hurt anybody, never caused..." - Helene McCready

Much like Amy Ryan's character in Gone Baby Gone, Nuggets fans woke up Tuesday morning to the news that Marcus Camby was gone. Seemingly overnight, the Nuggets shipped Camby out for the right to swap 2nd rounders with the Clippers in next year's draft. In short, they gave away their heart and soul and defensive workhorse for a second round pick they may not even get.

The Nuggets have in the past few years cemented themselves as a mid-level team in the Western Conference. Good enough to just make the playoffs but bad enough to be embarrassed by the real contenders. It has become readily apparent that in order to achieve the ultimate prize, the Nuggets will have to make changes.

League insiders and team reps will say (and I agree) that this was a good trade for the team in the long term. Denver had the fourth highest payroll in the NBA last year and they were certainly not a semifinal team. Many will see this trade as lopsided but it was purely a salary dump for the Nuggets. More trades and moves can be expected as the Nuggets try to get their payroll down to the point where they can be a player in the star-laden free agent market after this season.

In the short term, the trade certainly will not help the Nuggets but I doubt it will make them much worse. Nene will be back from his testicular cancer scare and will prove to be an offensive upgrade on Camby. The Nuggets are porous defensively and while Camby was an excellent help defender, he struggled one-on-one against skilled big men. The Nuggets will most likely ship Allen Iverson out of town as well and build around their polarizing superstar Carmelo Anthony. This should provide the energetic duo of J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza with more playing time.

In order for the Nuggets to compete, they need to surround Melo with role players and hard workers. Smith and Kleiza are two of those guys. Nene could be the third if he can stay healthy for an extended stretch. Get a shooter, a lock down defender, an unselfish point guard, and blue collar bench guys (such as Eduardo Najera). Get rid of the baby's and prima donna's (see, Kenyon Martin). Easier said than done.

It's a shame to see Camby go as he has been one of the bright spots on a chronically underachieving team. However sometimes you have to take a few steps back before you move forward.