Cody's Blog

7 players, 2 teams, millions of dollars, and great talent. Each of these things were exchanged Saturday as the woeful Washington Wizards made a trade with the Southwest leading Dallas Mavericks. The 17-33 Wizards sent solid scorer Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and backup guard DeShawn Stevenson to the 32-20 Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton. The Wizards had been shopping Butler as well as Haywood, but talks with the Mavericks had stalled because Washington insisted Dallas had to take Stevenson and his contract. After it looked like the deal would not get done, the Wizards threw center Brendon Haywood into the deal and the two teams agreed to the swap. This trade marks the beginning of the infamous “rebuilding” period for the Wizards, but puts Dallas in a great spot. The Mavs add the explosive scoring Butler, which will take some pressure off of Dirk Nowitzki. This trade solidifies the Mavs starting lineup, as they now can throw a lineup with Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and either Eric Dampier or newly acquired Brendan Haywood. Owner Mark Cuban greatly helped his teams chances of becoming possibly a two or three seed in the Western Conference and heightens their odds at a deep playoff run.