Marcus Camby On The Verge Of Heading To Portland, Isn’t Happy About It

After missing out on Brendan Haywood, the Portland Trailblazers are reportedly about to acquire Clippers’ big man Marcus Camby, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears.

The price is pretty cheap for the Blazers — the expiring contracts of guard Steve Blake and injured forward Travis Outlaw, as well as cash — considering their desperate short-term need for a center after injuries to Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla. It’s a no-brainer for them.

However, there is a snag, and that is Camby himself. He’s reportedly not happy about the trade, even though the Blazers are competing and the Clippers are floundering. He’s so mad that he walked out on a team dinner and never came back when he found out about the trade.

After taking the call from [his agent], Camby immediately walked out of the restaurant. A source close to Camby says that while he recognizes the benefits of playing for a better team, he is upset because his family is comfortably settled in Los Angeles. He had hoped to re-sign with the Clippers this summer.

“He likes the Clippers, he likes the organization, he likes L.A.,” the source said. “His wife is happy in L.A. And he’s not one for change. He’s definitely not happy about this.”

Camby also was similarly upset when the Nuggets traded him to the Clippers before the start of last season.

The Clippers’ players are also, predictably, upset about the trade. Why wouldn’t they be? Camby became a locker room leader, and now he’s being given away for no immediate on-court value. The Clippers probably feel Outlaw’s a better long-term answer at small forward than the enigmatic Al Thornton, but the current players will never grasp that.

It should be noted that the trade isn’t official, because neither owner has signed off on it, but all signs point to it happening, despite Camby’s own misgivings.