Marc Stein spoke with Mike Dunleavy for his piece on ESPN.com , and asked him about the Brand/Maggette for Davis/Camby "trade".

Coach Mike Dunleavy:

"We've been able to get ourselves a big-time point guard, which is probably the toughest position in the league to attain," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "So on that basis alone, you'd probably say you have to do that deal."

No question we were put into scramble mode by Elton leaving," Dunleavy said.

"You jump on the sure thing for sure," Dunleavy continued, explaining why they didn't hesitate to capitalize on the Denver Nuggets' desperation to shed salary as opposed to signing one of the A-list restricted free agents ."

"I think [Camby and Kaman] can play as well as Elton Brand and Kaman played together. Maybe there's times when [other teams] will decide to go smaller, but both guys are very mobile bigs. It wasn't even a thought."

Stein added his thoughts as well:

...one certainly can argue that the Clippers are in a better spot now than they were when free agency began.

Brand and Maggette for Davis and Camby? Agreed.  ...The Los Angeles Clippers basically just did … and I like it a lot more than I don't.

The question I keep hearing from some of their rivals: Aren't Camby and Chris Kaman too similar (and offensively challenged) to play together?

Plugged-in sources say Smith thought he was on the verge of getting an offer sheet from the Clippers before the Camby deal moved along so quickly. Rumblings persist that Smith would prefer to relocate in spite of his Georgia roots.