The Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards got together to pull off one of the larger deals in the NBA. The deal sends Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, James Singleton, and a few greenbacks.
This is a major move for Dallas who had been slumping prior to the All Star Weekend and gives them new life at the 2 (Butler) and the 5 (Haywood). Erick Dampier has been hurt Jason Terry is probably better at coming off the bench. Butler should bring a hard nosed scoring threat to the Mavericks that they haven’t had since maybe Jimmy Jackson. Stevenson can also come off the bench and provide some scoring and some defense.
The Wizards are in rebuilding mode. With the suspension of Gilbert Arenas for the rest of the year, they couldn’t make the playoffs. With other coveted pieces (Jamison and Miller) still on the team, there really aren’t any pieces to rebuild with (expected one of those two to be traded). The Wizards get another head case in Howard, a decent 10 and 10 guy in Gooden, and not much else.
Grade:
Mavericks – B – Solid move but I’m not sure that you gain that much more with Tough Juice (Butler) than what you had with Howard when he was playing well. They do get a little tougher in the paint with Haywood and a little more production with Stevenson.
Wizards – D – Well, that’s about all they can do is dump salary and hope that they can clear Arenas off the books and just start over. If Howard can get his head right AND keep from spraining one of his delicate ankles, he’d be a good complimentary piece when paired with a dominant player.
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