Toronto Raptors: Five drafted players who had great careers elsewhere

Marcus Camby

The career of Marcus Camby was great. But, it always felt like, maybe, just maybe, he didn’t reach his full potential. His time with the Toronto Raptors was as brief as can be and while he made the All-NBA Rookie First Team and averaged a career-high 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game in his debut season, he only lasted one more year north of the border.

However, Camby was still able to lead the league in blocks during the 1997-98 NBA season with a career-high 3.7 blocks per game. Following the ’97-98 season, Camby was traded to the New York Knicks in a deal that involved bruising power forward and Raptors fan favourite Charles Oakley and continued to impress in the Big Apple.

While initially backing up Knicks legend Patrick Ewing early on, Camby would step into the starting center role during the 1999 NBA Playoffs after Ewing went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. The Knicks defeated the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals as the eighth-seed and went on to lose to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.

The following year saw Camby win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award as the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals yet again, only this time they would lose in six games. The next season saw Camby struggle with injuries and he was traded to the Denver Nuggets in the offseason.

He would go on to have more success, leading the league in blocks multiple times and would win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2006-07. With the Nuggets, Camby was able to become one of the league’s best centers and all-around defensive players.

Camby would return to the Raptors in exchange for Andrea Bargnani in 2012, but the team would buy out his contract shortly after. By then, his time in the NBA was drawing to a close – however, Camby had one hell of a career.