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At first blush, the seven-player trade that sent Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross to Washington in return for Caron Butler (pictured), Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson appears to have made the Mavericks a better team and a tougher matchup for the Los Angeles Lakers, the team the Mavs must defeat in a seven-game series to have any hopes of winning an NBA title.
The one problem the trade doesn't fix is the Mavs' lack of an adequate shooting guard, unless the Mavs are determined to put Jason Terry there and have Butler play behind Shawn Marion. But that would seem like a waste of Butler's talents. On the other hand, you know Marion would be furious playing behind Butler, which would seem like the natural order of things.
At any rate, Butler seems like a substantial upgrade over Josh Howard, which is really what this trade is all about. The two are about the same age, although Butler entered the league a year earlier than Howard. The big difference is that (1) Butler is more durable than Howard, having played in 102 more games, significantly more than the one season's difference between them; (2) Butler is a significantly superior free throw shooter (88 percent to Howard's 79 percent) and has a slightly better field goal percentage (42 to Howard's 40).
And Haywood, thrown in at the end of negotiations because the Mavericks refused to take Butler and Stevenson's onerous contract just for Howard, could be the hidden X-factor here. Orlando's Dwight Howard calls Haywood one of three best defenders in the NBA and he gives the Mavs added length to go up against the Lakers' Andrew Bynum, Paul Gasol and Lamar Odom.
The one problem the trade doesn't fix is the Mavs' lack of an adequate shooting guard, unless the Mavs are determined to put Jason Terry there and have Butler play behind Shawn Marion. But that would seem like a waste of Butler's talents. On the other hand, you know Marion would be furious playing behind Butler, which would seem like the natural order of things.
At any rate, Butler seems like a substantial upgrade over Josh Howard, which is really what this trade is all about. The two are about the same age, although Butler entered the league a year earlier than Howard. The big difference is that (1) Butler is more durable than Howard, having played in 102 more games, significantly more than the one season's difference between them; (2) Butler is a significantly superior free throw shooter (88 percent to Howard's 79 percent) and has a slightly better field goal percentage (42 to Howard's 40).
And Haywood, thrown in at the end of negotiations because the Mavericks refused to take Butler and Stevenson's onerous contract just for Howard, could be the hidden X-factor here. Orlando's Dwight Howard calls Haywood one of three best defenders in the NBA and he gives the Mavs added length to go up against the Lakers' Andrew Bynum, Paul Gasol and Lamar Odom.
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