Well Hello There! Nice to See You Again. NBA Players Return to Former Teams
By Dante Nelson
There’s been an interesting trend going on this off-season. Players are reuniting with former teams. It happens all the time but it seems to be more frequent this off-season. Lamar Odom, Kirk Hinrich, Royal Ivey, and others. So let’s look at some of the happy reunions.
Lamar Odom
It just so happens that my middle name is Lamar. I happen to like that name. So, I’ll probably use the first name more than his last name. Lamar started his career with the Clippers being alongside an interesting young core of Elton Brand, Andre Miller, and Michael Olowokandi (remember him!?). As we know with Clippers history, all things don’t work out. Lamar ended up in Miami alongside a rookie Dwyane Wade in 03-04 but was traded to the Lakers as part of the Shaq deal to bring him to Miami. Lamar stayed with the Lakers for 7 years as a key Sixth-Man and got himself a couple of rings. Then, he joined up with the reigning champs the Dallas Mavericks but didn’t really have a strong impact there. In fact, it was one of the worst years of his career. Now, he’s going back home to the yet another rising Clippers squad as a veteran, and most likely Sixth-Man player.
Kirk Hinrich
Kirk’s story is similar to Lamar’s in that he was part of a young core for a team. Hinrich started off with the Bulls and by the time he was traded, he was among the leaders in team history in a few categories. He was traded to make room for Derrick Rose’s rise to power at the PG spot. Hinrich was traded to the Wizards and really was put in the same spot with a rookie sensation John Wall starting in front of him. During that same 2010-11 season, he was traded to the Hawks. After a couple of playoff runs with the Hawks, he signed back with the Bulls. In an interesting twist, he was brought back to replace the very man who replaced him, Derrick Rose. Philly fans know all about what happened to Rose in the playoffs.
Kurt Thomas
While Hinrich and Odom are returning to their first teams, Thomas is returning to his 3rd team, the Knicks. While they aren’t his first team, his best years came on the Knicks. This guy’s been around for a long time but has been a serviceable big man that rebounds and has a nice shot. There’s no mistake as to why he’s lasted this long. Never really had serious injury concerns. After being part on the Blazers team that had an odd recent history of injured big men, he was traded back to the Knicks along with another player…
Raymond Relton
Okay so Felton isn’t the same as the other players. He did play for the Knicks before but for only half a season. He was part of the Carmelo Anthony trade so he ended up with the Nuggets. He started his career wit the Bobcats. People thought that perhaps Felton and Emeka Okafor could be the young core the Bobcats would build off of. Yeah, so much for that. Felton has been the butt of a few fat jokes (I’ve never joked but I’ve seem em). Felton will probably be Jason Kidd’s back-up for the upcoming season. Maybe he’ll pick up a few things (besides pounds. Oh look, my first fat joke).
Marcus Camby
Again with the Knicks. But yes, Camby spent a few years with the Knicks. He started out with the Raptors, then came to the Knicks, then spent what I would say the prime of his career with the Nuggets before being traded to the Clippers. Then, he ended up with the
injured big man club
Blazers. He was traded to the Rockets last season and then was traded to the Knicks in an unrelated deal from Felton and Thomas. Camby is best known for his blocking, defending, and rebounding. Wouldn’t mind having him on the Sixers…
Royal Ivey
Ah Ivey. Remember him? He survived the 2009-10 season with us so you know he’s a tough guy. Sure he was traded, but, he was around and that’s enough for me. Always known as a solid defender and solid 3 point shooter, Ivey never really was known to be a starter. More of a back-up PG, even 3rd string. Sixers brought him in apparently to be Jrue’s back-up PG. There will probably be times where Evan Turner would play PG. Even Iguodala could play that part. So it remains to see how much time Ivey will see on the court. Still, it’s good to have the Ivey league back…or something like that…
And so that’s it for the players. But, there is one more person.
Jason Quint
Jason doesn’t know I’m doing this. You can call him Jay. It’s a reunion, is it not? Anyway, Jay spent time here in 2010 as a staff writer. One of the things I did when I became editor was to reconnect with former writers of the site. I had to look at the old posts, do some soul Twitter searches and poof! I was able to grab a few former writers. If you’re on Twitter, follow the site @SixerSense and you’ll actually see that the account has an “All-time Writers” list. Guys like Sean O’Connor (oh c’mon you remember him!) and Jay are on there as well as our current staff. Just my way of saying thanks to the work that these writers have done for the site. They helped make this site possible through the years. It’s not me; I just inherited this wonderful piece of art. Anyway, after connecting with Jay, it ended up working out that he was interested in re-joining the site. Jay is known for his knowledge of the NBA draft prospects and the NBA draft in general. He runs this site here. We’ve already said this but welcome back Jason!
And that’s it. When I stumble upon more players, I’ll either update this post or make a new one. Give me players I missed because my four eyes (I wear glasses; typical nerd) can miss things. Thanks for reading!