After the Nuggets unloaded center Marcus Camby in a salary dump, Camby was down in the dumps.

"Blindsided, distraught, disrespected. All those adjectives. I definitely feel insulted," Camby said of being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. "When I first heard about the trade, I felt like I was the scapegoat after all our past first-round exits and failures and lack of defense.

"I felt it was them telling me that I was no longer wanted and I was the cause of everything that went wrong the last couple years on this team. I'm still in disbelief. I'm still in shock. I still can't believe this happened."

In a cost-cutting move, the Nuggets sent Camby and his $10 million salary-cap figure to the Clippers in exchange for the right to swap second-round picks in the 2010 draft. Camby's agent, Rick Kaplan, said he was told by the Nuggets, who were well over the luxury tax threshold, it was a "salary dump."

What made Camby really disappointed was the day before the July 15 trade, he had been around Nuggets officials at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

"Obviously, the Nuggets don't owe me any explanation," Camby said. "I understand that this is definitely a business, but I felt that the six years of service that I put in on the court and off the court, they at least could have given me a heads-up on what was going on. I feel very disrespected on that aspect."

Camby was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006-07 and was second in voting for that award last season. He was the center the past two seasons on the NBA All-Defensive team.

"I'm definitely frustrated because I felt that I gave it my all," he said. "There were years when I was the only (healthy) big guy on the team when all the big guys around me were hurt. I would still play hurt and do my all for this team. I didn't realize my salary was that much compared to everyone else's. They basically dumped mine and got nothing in return."

In explaining the reasoning behind the deal, Nuggets officials discussed the financial flexibility they will have in the near future. They got a $10 million trade exception in the deal, which is good for a year after Camby was dealt.

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