The Knicks’ new senior-citizen bench brigade has absorbed its first blow of the season and the victim will come as no surprise. Marcus Camby, who was signed to a three-year deal over the summer despite a long history of injuries, including when he played at the Garden earlier in his NBA career, has been KO’d from the first two preseason games by a strained left calf. The injury occurred in only the fourth practice of training camp and was revealed in an MRI. Read more after the jump.
The 38-year old backup center-forward is expected to miss a week to 10 days, which would include the Knicks’ second exhibition game, on Saturday against Boston in his native Hartford. They open their six-game preseason schedule in Washington on Thursday against the Wizards. The team announced the injury and the timetable for Camby’s return before practice in Greenburgh on Saturday.
Afterward, Camby was not made available to the media. Nor was Amar’e Stoudemire, who was held out of practice due to what the team says is a minor ankle injury.
For now, the bigger concern is Camby. Entering his 17th NBA season, he is being counted on to provide quality minutes behind Tyson Chandler. But the Knicks now have to wonder what kind of season they’ll get out of Camby in his second tour of duty with the team. In his first stint, from 1999-2002, he was often injured and never played more than 63 games during his four seasons. His last season ended after only 29 games due to a hip injury and was a factor in the Knicks trading him to Denver in June 2002, in the Antonio McDyess deal.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson tried to downplay Camby’s injury, saying, “Years ago, Marcus was playing 30 minutes a game. I’m not looking for Marcus to play 30 minutes a game anymore. If we can keep him healthy enough to give us some productive minutes — if it’s going to be two, three, four minutes — then that’s going to be a plus for us.”
But the Knicks are looking for substantially more than handful of minutes per game out of Camby. Among the vets the Knicks imported for their bench, Camby and Jason Kidd, who turns 40 in March, will have the two most critical roles when the team opens its season Nov. 1 in Brooklyn. Although the plan is for Kidd to come off the bench, he could end up finishing games if he proves better at doing so than Raymond Felton, the new starter at point guard for the departed Jeremy Lin.
Still, Camby’s injury didn’t set off alarms, at least not publicly.
“We just got to make sure that their bodies are ready to run up and down and play,” Woodson said of his older bench players. “They’re not big-minute players anymore. But they know how to play and are battle-tested. The core guys are carrying the load. But all good teams need a good supporting cast.”
Perhaps because of his history of injuries and long career, Camby privately told teammates when he arrived for training camp that he was surprised he received a three-year deal worth $13.1 million. While he is scheduled to receive $9.2 million guaranteed for his first two seasons, the third year is not guaranteed and the Knicks could wind up paying him less if he continues to break down. If the Knicks want to get rid of him before his third season, they would owe him only a $1 million buyout. If he sticks, then they would end up paying him all of his $3.9 million for year three.
