Trading Places

I hate midseason trades. They're not fair to the players on either side, nor to the teams or their fans. High expectations are most often not met and undue pressures are piled upon all involved. Deadline trades don't allow enough of an adjustment period for the newcomers, nor for the existing players as the team tries to form a new chemistry and learn how to best play with one another. That being said, I am thoroughly excited about the recent trade the Mavericks pulled off, sending Josh Howard, James Singleton, Quinton Ross, and Drew Gooden to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and cash considerations.


Brendan Haywood is a strong young presence down low that should serve as an excellent backup center for the Mavericks. Due to the open dislocation of his finger that Erick Dampier suffered in the loss to OKC on Tuesday night, Haywood has been immediately thrown into the fire in a starting capacity. Judging from his performance last night against the Phoenix Suns, his future here looks extremely bright.


And although Caron Butler hasn't had the best shooting performances in his first two games as a Maverick, he should prove to be an adequate Robin to Nowitzki's Batman. Butler can create his own shot and is not afraid to take the ball to the bucket. His scoring ability should make him an excellent second option on offense and provide Dirk with some much needed help, especially on nights like the last two, when Jason Terry's streaky shooting has gone ice cold.

I haven't really seen enough of DeShawn Stevenson to know what role he will be playing here, if anything other than bench warmer. I do know that he was not a pivotal piece of the trade, as far as the Mavericks were concerned; for Dallas, this trade was about bringing Butler and especially Haywood here to not only help the Mavericks get over the hump and make a championship push this season, but in the near future as well.

And if the Mavs' victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night is any indication, maybe this team is finally moving back in the right direction. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe for the time being. I'm giving my Mavericks the benefit of the doubt. Let's see how this plays out come the end of April, but so far, so good, from the Maverick perspective.

As for ex-Maverick Josh Howard, well, that's another story entirely...