Dallas trades Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson

Nice first step, Caron!

(Photo from Nice Kicks)
Do you remember the preseason? When the Wizards were thought to be a playoff contender with a healthy big 3 of Arenas, Butler and Jamison, the additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye, with Brendan Haywood in the middle? This team could only go up from their 2008-2009 19-win season, right?

Well Jamison started the year off hurt with a bum shoulder, and the team started 2-7. Then Mike Miller got hurt and missed 28 games plus a 7 minute outing at the beginning of those 24. The team went 8-13 in a 21 game stretch he missed. And in the beginning of January, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton brought their guns out and have been suspended for the rest of the season. Caron Butler is the only iron man of the big names the 17-win Wizards have, but the Wizards said forget this season, let's make a deal.

So Dallas comes along. After a preseason of trading for Shawn Marion and signing Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and Tim Thomas, the Mavericks were up there in possible teams to dethrone the Lakers. And wouldn't you know it, the second game of the season they beat the Lakers (sans Pau). But lately it seems like they've been struggling, going 4-6 in their last 10 games, including losses to teams they should beat: Philadelphia, Minnesota, and the Portland (sans Oden and Roy - the Andre Miller 52 point game). Dallas is now 32-20 and 4th in the West with San Antonio, Oklahoma and Phoenix 1.5 games behind and Portland 2.5 games behind, meaning there's a not so far fetched possibility of Dallas falling to 8th place or lower in the West!

Contractually Speaking

Josh Howard - $10.8 million due this season, team option next season for $11.8 million
Drew Gooden - $4.5 million due this season, free agent next season
Quinton Ross - $1 million due this season, team option next season for $1.1 million
James Singleton - $1 million due this season, free agent next season

Caron Butler - $9.7 million due this season, $10.5 million due next season
Brendan Haywood - $6 million due this season, free agent next season
DeShawn Stevenson - $3.8 million due this season, $4.1 million due next season
(Source Hoops Hype)

Dallas Point Of View

With the struggling Mavericks comes the struggling Josh Howard. He's played in 32 games this season, starting in 9 and is well below his past couple of years' averages. This season he's putting up 12.5/3.6/1.4 on 40% shooting in 26 minutes compared to last years' 18/5.1/1.6 on 45.1% shooting in 32 minutes (starting, but only in 52 games due to injury).

The Drew Gooden signing didn't seem to work out either. He put up decent numbers (averaging 9 pts, 7 reb) as a bench player but said Cuban: "Damp [Erick Dampier] is having problems with his knees and requires rest every now and then, and we were in a spot without having a shot-blocker behind him. Drew did a great job. He laid it out there every game for us to try to fill in. Going into the season we thought that would work, and it just didn't play out as planned." (Dallas News) (Photo from Zimbio).

Replacing them will be Brendan Haywood and 2x all star Caron Butler. Plain and simple, the Mavericks win in this trade. Caron Butler is averaging 17/6/2 and is one of those freak athletes that can put up youtube worthy highlights with his fast breaks. Putting him with Jason Kidd will have positive results.

Brendan Haywood, averaging 10/10 with 2 blocks is another version of Erick Dampier. When Damp is out, the same kind of shot blocking center replaces him. He's a better scorer than Dampier as well (Photo from SI Vault).

And DeShawn Stevenson - Mike Miller took almost all of his minutes in Washington but he is a good defender and athlete. Although he's not a star and is more well known for his little "rivalry" with LeBron, he's more than just a throw in for the Mavs.

How is the starting lineup and depth chart going to look for Dallas? Probably something like

C- Erick Dampier - Brendan Haywood
PF - Dirk Nowitzki - Shawn Marion
SF - Caron Butler - Shawn Marion
SG - Jason Terry - DeShawn Stevenson
PG - Jason Kidd - Jose Barea

Caron Butler can also play SG and Shawn Marion could start at SF putting Jason Terry back in his 6th man role off the bench.

This is a nice looking squad. It's a definite upgrade from the underwhelming play of Josh Howard and a solid back up center for Erick Dampier. More bigs to bang with the Lakers' Bynum and Gasol, the Nuggets' Nene and Martin, and San Antonio's Duncan and Blair. Put that with the scoring abilities of Dirk, Caron, Marion and Terry run by Jason Kidd at point and this offense should have no problem putting points on the board as well as improving their defensive end with Caron and Stevenson guarding some of the top wing players in the league.

Washington Point of View

As mentioned, this team probably won't make the playoffs (8 games behind for the 8th seed, currently 14th in the East only better than the Nets). The team needs to start fresh. They've tried voiding Arenas' contract after the gun incident and with only two years left on Caron's contract, could they put something positive together for two years and re sign him? Also, there's only one year left on Mike Miller's contract and would he want to resign with a bad team? Too much uncertainty. Shed money and maybe sign a big name in the 2010 free agent class.

(Photo from beloblog)
Let's do some math: With this trade, the Wizards shed $14.6 million from next year's payroll. In total, with Mike Miller, Mike James, Oberto and Crittenton coming off the books, the Wizards will go from $77 million to $40 million like THAT. $30 million dollars give or take to sign an all star, a high draft pick, and some solid role/bench players to go along, (HOPEFULLY) with a healthy, law abiding Arenas and Antawn Jamison, although I wouldn't be surprised if either both or just Antawn Jamison was somehow moved before next season.

This season? Well... let the tanking begin? Drew Gooden will be starting at Center for sure and you gotta replace Caron with Howard for a lineup and rotation that should look something like:

C: Drew Gooden - JaVale McGee
PF: Antawn Jamison - Andray Blatch
SF: Josh Howard - Nick Young
SG: Mike Miller - Quinton Ross
PG: Randy Foye - Earl Boykins

I honestly feel sorry for the Washington Wizards. Gilbert Arenas really screwed them over. This was the year he'd stay healthy and take a step in the right direction to make the playoffs and lure a middle tier big name from the 2010 free agent class to take them to the next step. Instead, they'll miss the playoffs again, Mike Miller would leave and Caron if he wasn't traded would leave in the next few seasons. The Wizards did what they had to do and are on the way to starting fresh.

For Dallas, this might be THE team. And they'll have the same team next year with an expiring Dampier contract worth $13 million that could be used to pull off ANOTHER big trade. Time will tell for Dallas on how this team will work, but for the Wizards, close the book on this season.

Dallas off-season moves, hello Shawn Marion!

(Photo from TutorialDog)
The Dallas Mavericks haven't really bounced back since losing in 6 games to the Miami Heat in the Finals of the 2005-2006 season. After that season they lost in the first round to the Golden State Warriors, and after that season, they lost in the first round to the New Orleans Hornets and this past season, they lost in the 2nd round to the Denver Nuggets. They had some decisions to make this off-season and they haven't thrown in the towel. Instead of letting the Lakers repeat, the Celtics retake the league, the Spurs and Richard Jefferson to come back or Orlando or Cleveland to win their first championship, Mark Cuban opened his wallet and let it rain.

Facts:

• Dallas trades Jerry Stackhouse (to the Grizzlies), Devean George and Antoine Wright (to the Raptors) for Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries, and Greg Buckner.
• Dallas signs F/C Drew Gooden for one year.
• Dallas re-signs PG Jason Kidd for three years.
• Dallas signs F Tim Thomas for one year.
• Dallas signs G Quinton Ross (undisclosed details).
• Dallas signed Orlando C Marcin Gortat, but Orlando matched the offer, keeping him in Orlando.
  

Contracts:

• Shawn Marion was signed (and traded) for 5 years/$39 million (average $7.8 mil per year).
  
• Kris Humphries is owed $3.2 mil with a player option for $3.2 mil in 2010.
  
• Greg Buckner is owed $4 mil with a player option for $4.2 mil in 2010.
  
• Drew Gooden was signed for $4.5 mil, FA in 2010.
  
• Jason Kidd was signed for 3 years/$25 million (average $8.3 mil per year).
  
• Tim Thomas was signed for the veteran minimum: $1.3 million.
  
• Quinton Ross' details were undisclosed.

Read between the baselines:
(Photo from reclinergm)
The big deal here is for Shawn Marion who is nicknamed the Matrix. Anyone who has played in a fantasy basketball league knows exactly what Shawn Marion is capable of and why he is called the Matrix. His last 2 years in Miami and Toronto, he was playing on the fly, but if we go back to his last FULL year in Phoenix (granted it was a run and gun offense) he scored 17.5 points on 52% FG, grabbed 9.8 rebounds, 1 3pter, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Short story shorter, he does it all. Here's what HoopsHype has to say about him:

"One of the best athletes in the league, outstanding leaping skills, jumps high and many times in a short period of time [pogo stick-like], drives to the basket without fear, runs the floor with the best of them, great defender, guards multiple positions, never gets tired."

He had 2 let down seasons when he was traded for Shaq to Miami, then traded to Tornoto for Jermaine O'Neal. Traded away from 2x MVP Steve Nash. Now in Dallas, he has a future hall of famer PG in Jason Kidd. It's safe to assume he will produce Matrix like numbers in Dallas. And for only $8 million a year, that seems like a great investment, even if he does fall off in the last couple years of the 5 year deal, but even that seems unlikely.

Greg Buckner and Kris Humphries were throwins in the deal, but that's not to say they can't contribute. Although Buckner isn't an offensive threat, he does have good defense. Humphries who's only been in the league for 5 years is a solid enough PF who could supply some decent bench minutes.

Tim Thomas, who seems to have been on every team in the league and is now a Maverick, can be a dependable 3 pt threat and has some offensive moves of his own. He's fallen off in the past couple seasons but he's played for the Clippers, Knicks, and only a handful of games for the Bulls. On a steady, solid playoff team like the Mavericks, he can contribute, if he knows his role.

Quinton Ross, another ex-Clipper, is known for his defense and can really lock on to players. He's been asked to guard the top scorers on opposing teams (at least during his time with the Clippers). He could be a very nice addition to the Dallas bench. The Mavericks are putting some D back in Dallas.

And last but not least, Jason Kidd, who at 36 years old can still produce close to triple double numbers. He's in the right situtaion with lots of offensive threats running alongside him. Another season of 9pts, 8 ast, and 6 rebounds with 2 steals, and a 3pter isn't out of the question. 3 years at 25 million is about what he's worth. And the Mavs couldn't let a player like Kidd go without having anyone to run the offense the way he does.

Last season, Dallas ranked 17th in DEF EFF, allowing 105.3 points per 100 possessions (next in line were Chicago, Indiana, Memphis and Oklahoma) The additions of Shawn Marion, Buckner and Ross could bring that number down a bit. Dallas didn't lose any key players (Jerry Stackhouse only played in 10 games last season, Devean George played minimal minutes in only 43 games, although Antoine Wright started at SG for a good portion of the season and playoffs, his loss will be reconciled with the new additions). Dallas may have to move around some positions to work out the details in the starting lineup, but they have versatile players who can play multiple positions.

Probable starting lineup/bench for the upcoming season:

PG: Jason Kidd/Jason Terry
SG: Josh Howard?/Jason Terry/Matt Carroll
SF: Shawn Marion/Tim Thomas
PF: Dirk Nowitzki/Drew Gooden/Tim Thomas
C: Erick Dampier/Drew Gooden/Kris Humphries

This is a deep team and Shawn Marion can fit in seemingly without disrupting any team chemistry. And with the supporting role players the Mavs have added, the team is deep with options on both offense and defense. Dallas hasn't gotten close to getting back to the Finals since the let down in 2006. Could Shawn Marion lift them back up? The Lakers, Cavs, Celtics, Spurs and Orlando are all the likely candidates for the championship for the next coming years, but stranger things have happened in the NBA and although unlikely, this could could COULD be a team that gives the league a lot of problems in the playoffs. Mark Cuban believes in this team and has given Dirk Nowitzki some quality supporting players. If he can play like an MVP, if Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Shawn Marion do what they do on offense and defense, and if Jason Kidd can put the pieces together, this team is scary. Oh yeah, and Dirk Nowitzki was first team all NBA last season.

Those are the facts. And that's one way to read between the [base]lines.