Mavs hope trade helps them contend

[duncan228]

Mavs hope trade helps them contend (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-mavericks021310&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Marc J. Spears

The Dallas Mavericks’ trade for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood doesn’t have their Western Conference rivals trembling just yet.

The Mavericks acquired Butler, Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson from the salary-shedding Washington Wizards in exchange for forwards Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and guard Quinton Ross on Saturday night. Physicals have been waived for the trade and the rejuvenated Mavs will debut at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

Although the Mavericks added three players who have been starters most of their careers – and who should improve Dallas’ scoring and depth – last season’s two Western Conference finalists didn’t seem too concerned.

”I’m never nervous,” Kobe Bryant said. ”Just more cautious because I know what [Butler] can bring to the table.”

Butler could move into the starting lineup at Dallas’ shooting guard position. He doesn’t have Howard’s drama, can play inside and outside, is tough and defends better than advertised. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes Butler can return to an All-Star level.

”I think he’s very excited,” said Bryant, who played with Butler on the Los Angeles Lakers. ”It gives him a chance to contend for a championship. I think the hunger and the passion will come back.”

Haywood’s addition shouldn’t be underestimated. He ranks fifth in the league in blocks and is averaging more than 10 rebounds per game. He gives the Mavericks a bruising big man who can body up Lakers center Andrew Bynum or Nuggets center Nene.

With Erick Dampier slowed by knee issues, Haywood could start. Dallas also recently added rugged forward Eduardo Najera. If there is a knock against the Lakers, it’s that their big men can be pushed around. Dallas now has the beef to do that.

While the Lakers still own a clear advantage in talent, one longtime scout thinks the Mavericks could become a stronger contender than the Nuggets to make the West finals.

”That’s a real good move,” Carmelo Anthony said. ”But I don’t get nervous.”

The Mavs won’t have much time to jell. At 32-20, they have just 30 games left. They’ve also lost five of their past seven games, which is a big reason why they made the deal now.

”If those pieces fit,” Jason Kidd said, “it could put us right there with the elite teams of this league.”

Added Dirk Nowitzki: ”Obviously, when you’ve lost [five] out of your last [seven] games you got to look at doing something.”

Like Bryant, Lakers forward Pau Gasol doesn’t seem overly worried about the rejuvenated Mavs.

”I guess they’ll have to prove it,” Gasol said. ”It’s all about proving it and seeing if they are stronger. It does take time. It’s not a one-player deal, so it does take time for those players to adjust inside the court and outside the court with the guys.

”I guess they felt like they had to make a move and they made it. It brings good players to their team. It might be positive. It might not be. We will have to see how it plays out.”

Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups said Cuban deserved credit for being willing to do what it took financially to get the deal done. It wasn’t a move for a big name like Phoenix’s Amar’e Stoudemire or Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, but the Mavericks didn’t need a superstar. They have that in Nowitzki. The Mavericks needed a couple more pieces and a wake-up call to pick up their game.

Now, they just might have enough talent to force the Lakers, Nuggets and the rest of the West to take them more seriously.

”We’ll find out,” Cuban said. ”That’s why they play the games. You never know until you go out there and play.”

[Fpoonsie]

I reeeeeally wanna like the Mavs. It'd make my life in Dallas (and my attempt to grow as an NBA fan) soooo much easier. Only 2 people're standing in my way.

[Dirkadirkastan]

I reeeeeally wanna like the Mavs. It'd make my life in Dallas (and my attempt to grow as an NBA fan) soooo much easier. Only 2 people're standing in my way.

Who? Two forum members?

[mystargtr34]

Breaking news.

[DAF86]

I reeeeeally wanna like the Mavs. It'd make my life in Dallas (and my attempt to grow as an NBA fan) soooo much easier. Only 2 people're standing in my way.

Let me guess: Terry and Cuban.

[Lars]

Meh lateral move.

[pauls931]

I think it's an improvment. Try being a suns fan where every trade makes you worse in order to save money.

[Fpoonsie]

Let me guess: Terry and Cuban.

:lol *ding ding ding*

I'm as cliche' a Spurs fan as they come.

[Fpoonsie]

Who? Two forum members?

:lol

Nah. A POSTER couldn't make me hate a team, regardless of how 21_Blessings tries.

[mavs>spurs2]

I reeeeeally wanna like the Mavs. It'd make my life in Dallas (and my attempt to grow as an NBA fan) soooo much easier. Only 2 people're standing in my way.

I heard the JET and Cuban ran train on your mother

[Fpoonsie]

...and regardless of how mavs>spurs, ST's resident "genius" tries.

[Muser]

It puts them on level with Denver IMO. L.A are still coming out of the west if they stay healthy.

[mavs>spurs2]

...and regardless of how mavs>spurs, ST's resident "genius" tries.

Anyway regardless, your mother sure didn't try very hard to fight them off when she was moaning in pleasure. Your mother is in fact the "genius," she always gets what she wants.:eyebrows She's smarter than myself, Donnie, and Cuban combined, although it's a pity on the rest of the spurstalk community that none of her superior intellect was passed on to her son, who's shitty posts are forced down all of our throats.

[Fpoonsie]

:lol

Not sure why you're tryin to get a rise outta me. I've already said that a poster has no influence on my feelings toward a team. You seem to be vying for a position that doesn't exist.

You're the Dwight Schrute of ST.

[mavs>spurs2]

:lol

Not sure why you're tryin to get a rise outta me. I've already said that a poster has no influence on my feelings toward a team. You seem to be vying for a position that doesn't exist.

JET just texted me and said that he and your mother also tried positions that previously didn't exist. He said she was such a freak that she was doing some exorcist crawling backwards towards him upside down shit :lol

I'm just fucking with you dude. You're one of the few good spur posters

[Fpoonsie]

JET just texted me and said that he and your mother also tried positions that previously didn't exist :lol

I'm just fucking with you dude. You're one of the few good spur posters

:toast

And just to be clear, Dwight Schrute cracks me up.

(I edited late)

[mavs>spurs2]

Anyway relating to the thread, in all honesty this trade doesn't necessarily help us come close to beating LA. A lot closer than before, but it'll take a while to judge just how close. We almost need another talent robbery trade like this last one to the Wiz to be bonafide contenders, except we are running out of expiring contracts so I doubt this is possible without losing Dampier and all of our depth at the center position. If we had another expiring, we could package Damp + (insert player here) for another talent and a decent backup center. But I think as it stands we'll just have to stand pat.

[mavsfan1000]

Beaubois and Dampier (expiring contract) combo would definitely be nice for a team that wants to rebuild. If somehow we can get a bigtime shooting guard and backup center for that.

[mavs>spurs2]

Beaubois and Dampier (expiring contract) combo would definitely be nice for a team that wants to rebuild. If somehow we can get a bigtime shooting guard and backup center for that.

I'm not too keen on losing Beaubois just yet. He's literally the ONLY thing for the future we've got going, and is such an unknown commodity right now. It's not ridiculous to assume that he could become an all star in the coming several years judging by the glimpses of talent he's displayed in limited action. And besides I want JJB phased out of the lineup as soon as possible, but without any other option and with Kidd being old he'd be forced to play 20 minutes a night.

[mavsfan1000]

I'm not too keen on losing Beaubois just yet. He's literally the ONLY thing for the future we've got going, and is such an unknown commodity right now. It's not ridiculous to assume that he could become an all star in the coming several years judging by the glimpses of talent he's displayed in limited action. And besides I want JJB phased out of the lineup as soon as possible, but without any other option and with Kidd being old he'd be forced to play 20 minutes a night.
I agree but if a rebuilding team wants to send us their best player which happens to be a shooting guard along with a replacement for Dampier, it would be hard to refuse. But it almost has to be a perfect deal to be worth it.

[mavs>spurs2]

I agree but if a rebuilding team wants to send us their best player which happens to be a shooting guard along with a replacement for Dampier, it would be hard to refuse. But it almost has to be a perfect deal to be worth it.

what if that player was not a SG but Amare? I'd pull the trigger..

mavs should have been working on such a deal instead of being content after one step in the right direction..IMO

[Fpoonsie]

Given the opportunity, Beaubois is gonna be a lightning rod for whichever team GIVES him said chance, be it the Mavs or anyone else. He's like TP w/ better hops.

Haven't had a good enough look at his ability to facilitate, though. Does he share TP's shoot-first mentality or...?

[mavs>spurs2]

Does he share TP's shoot-first mentality or...?

To an extent but I don't think nearly as much. Right now he's more of a scoring PG, but I think with training and experience he could be groomed into a great all around PG, like a Chris Paul, but obviously not as good. It's not like he ball hogs when he's in the game, although he does look to shoot.

[Fpoonsie]

To an extent but I don't think nearly as much. Right now he's more of a scoring PG, but I think with training and experience he could be groomed into a great all around PG, like a Chris Paul, but obviously not as good. It's not like he ball hogs when he's in the game, although he does look to shoot.

Well, he's in a perfect position to be groomed by one of the best, pass-first PGs to play the game. Kidd's shot-selection has always been something that impressed me about him, too. If he can find a way to instill that into a young, quick, athletic Roddy...Christ.

[Dirkadirkastan]

:lol *ding ding ding*

I'm as cliche' a Spurs fan as they come.

Oh c'mon Terry (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4907637)'s not all that bad. But as for Cuban (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4912685)... I have no defense.

[Findog]

I reeeeeally wanna like the Mavs. It'd make my life in Dallas (and my attempt to grow as an NBA fan) soooo much easier. Only 2 people're standing in my way.

I'm guessing Mark Cuban is one and Jason Terry is the other.

[Findog]

Come over to the darkside Fpoonsie. The Spurs are yesterday's news. Cuban's antics are embarrassing at times, but you couldn't ask for a better owner. Hope he never sells...

[Fpoonsie]

I'm guessing Mark Cuban is one and Jason Terry is the other.

Yeah. I figured it was so obvious it didn't even warrant an explanation.


Come over to the darkside Fpoonsie. The Spurs are yesterday's news. Cuban's antics are embarrassing at times, but you couldn't ask for a better owner. Hope he never sells...

:lol I grew up in College Station. If I can suffer through the all-too-often miserably disappointing A&M football seasons year in, year out, I can atleast give SA a shot when shit goes bleak.

[SpursDynasty]

The Mavs were never contenders for the championship, and they still aren't.

[mavs>spurs2]

The Mavs were never contenders for the championship, and they still aren't.

Hi timvp

[Basketballgirl25]

Given the opportunity, Beaubois is gonna be a lightning rod for whichever team GIVES him said chance, be it the Mavs or anyone else. He's like TP w/ better hops.

Haven't had a good enough look at his ability to facilitate, though. Does he share TP's shoot-first mentality or...?


Beaubois could be good for the Mavs in the future, but I have to think is he the type of player that needs minutes to stay better. For the years I've been watching basketball there has only been one back-up PG for Kidd I've seen that hasn't sucked as much as others. Will Beaubois be the second player to do well once Kidd is gone or will he be like the rest I've seen that sucked.

[dallaskd]

Go Mavs.

[duncan228]

Jason Terry Will Move to the Bench for Caron Butler (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-jasonterrywillmoveto&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews

This weekend’s Caron Butler/Brendan Haywood trade was a terrific one for the Mavericks, a deal that makes them a legitimate contender in the West and that forces every other team to adjust accordingly.

The only question was how the Mavs would fit Butler into a lineup full of talented guards and wings. Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com has the answer:

Jason Terry will welcome Caron Butler to the Dallas Mavericks by returning to the bench.

Terry said before Sunday night’s All-Star Game that Butler will be the Mavericks’ starting shooting guard after arriving in a seven-player blockbuster trade with the Washington Wizards.

Well, that’s an easy answer. Terry won the Sixth Man trophy last season and started this year on the bench, so it’s not as if this is a new role for him. The only worry is that JET moved into the starting lineup earlier this year after struggling and has recaptured his shooting touch, but it seems likely that he can continue that success in a role where he’s done so well in the past.

Terry and Butler are actually likely to play together fairly often, either as shooting guard and small forward when Dirk Nowitzki or Shawn Marion gets a breather, or as part of the same backcourt when Jason Kidd rests. Each of those lineups is rock solid and shows why this trade was such a good one for Dallas.

[mavsfan1000]

Dampier said he will need knee surgery in the offseason. What a downer after this good news.

[21_Blessings]

It puts them on level with Denver IMO. L.A are still coming out of the west if they stay healthy.

:toast

[mavsfan1000]

Ouch. Buzz kill.

Mavericks make right move by not playing Dampier

10:12 PM CST on Monday, February 8, 2010

By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

OAKLAND, Calif. – Not playing Erick Dampier on Monday night at Golden State was the right move for the Mavericks.

For more than a month now, Dampier has limped around on his injured left knee and has looked nothing like the player who averaged nearly a double-double early in the season. Mavericks 6-8 forward Eduardo Najera started at center for the inactive Dampier.

The Mavericks’ defense has suffered without a healthy Dampier. Opposing centers (see the Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut) have exposed the Mavericks.

Dampier said Monday that his knee is “still a little sore, but the swelling is definitely down.”

“But I don’t want to try to come back and irritate it more and it end up getting worse,” Dampier said.

The All-Star break can’t get here soon enough for Dampier. The veteran 7-footer said Monday that he will likely have off-season surgery to “clean out” his left knee. But right now, all he can do is strengthen the muscles around the knee through rehab and rest.

“It’s been 10 years or so since I had arthroscopic surgery on it,” Dampier said. “That’s probably what it is, some particles floating around inside of it causing the swelling.”

The Mavericks play at Denver Tuesday night in the second game of a back-to-back. Dampier didn’t practice Sunday. By resting him Monday, he’ll be ready to play against the Nuggets – a much better foe than the Warriors – before taking the next week off prior to the Mavericks returning from the All-Star break Feb. 16 at Oklahoma City.

“I definitely need some rest,” Dampier said. “I won’t do much moving around on the break. Just a couple of days of rest and rehab will definitely be a difference.”

[badfish22]

Ouch. Buzz kill.

Thats alright. Hes only gonna play like 20 minutes a game at most anyway.

[duncan228]

Mavs look drastically different after break (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=txalteredmavericks&prov=st&type=lgns)
By Stephen Hawkins

The Dallas Mavericks would like to host another big-time NBA event this season. So they made some changes.

With the record-breaking All-Star weekend in their back yard over, the Southwest Division-leading Mavericks will begin the final 30-game stretch of the regular season Tuesday night looking much different than they did when losing five of seven games before the break.

A seven-player weekend trade brought two-time All-Star guard Caron Butler, 7-foot center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas from Washington. Often promising and disappointing Josh Howard was sent with Drew Gooden and two others to the Wizards.

“Now I don’t know how many of you out there are going to pick us in a seven-game series against the Lakers, but in our opinion the guys in that locker room, we’re ready to lock horns with anybody,” Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “We feel like this solidifies us a little bit.”

Enough to think about the possibility of playing Los Angeles in a Western Conference final? Or getting back to the NBA Finals four years after blowing a two-game lead and losing in six games to Miami?

“We’ll find out,” owner Mark Cuban said. “You just never know until you get out there and play, and if we can get back to where we were early in the season and get healthy. … I think we’re better.”

The Mavericks (32-20) still lead their division despite the slump before the break that included a 36-point loss to Denver, one of the three teams ahead of them in the West, in their last game.

Dallas had its lone practice Monday with their three newcomers before a stretch of four games against probable playoff teams in five days.

“We were struggling here for a month, so we are excited now to have some new guys,” All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “It’s not going to be an easy ride, but we are looking forward to coming together quick and hopefully finish the season strong.”

The Mavericks play at Oklahoma City on Tuesday and are home the next night against Phoenix before a day off and then another back-to-back set, at Orlando and home against Miami.

Butler, who has averaged 16.9 points a game in his eighth NBA season, is expected to move into the Mavericks’ starting lineup. Jason Terry, who last year got the NBA sixth man award as the league’s top reserve, is expected to move back into that role after starting the past 11 games.

Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, who because of a sore left ankle didn’t play in the All-Star game before the record crowd of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night, said Butler will be a good addition for Dallas. They were teammates with the Lakers in 2004-05.

“You put him on a contender and I’m telling you, you’re going to love him,” Bryant said. `He’s tough as nails.”

Haywood provides needed depth in the middle behind Erick Dampier, who missed three of four games before the break. That forced Gooden, now headed to his eighth team in eight seasons, to fill that role much more than planned when Dallas signed him last summer.

“We were running into problems. Damp is having problems with his knees and requires rest every now and then, and we really were in a spot without having a shot-blocker behind him,” Cuban said. “Drew did a great job, he laid it out there every game for us to try to go in as a five. Going into the season, we thought that would work, and it just didn’t play out as planned.”

The Mavericks also envision using Dampier and Haywood together to match up against other teams using two big men.

Howard had spent his entire career with Dallas, playing 431 games since being the 29th overall pick in 2003. The team’s second-longest tenured player behind Nowitzki, Howard played only 31 games with nine starts this season after being limited the first couple of months while recovering from offseason surgery on his left ankle.

[jacobdrj]

Dallas Mavericks + Carlisle + Dirk + Terry + Kidd - (-Howard) + Haywood + Butler = a damn good team.

They did some addition by subtraction with Howard, and some crazy crazy addition with Butler, who somehow manages to keep being underrated...

Now that Stupid-Head Howard is gone, I have Dallas pegged as my official 2010 B-Team.

[badfish22]

http://www.nba.com/video/mavericks

videos have been posted with interviews of new players.

[sribb43]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2010/2/14/1310131/2010/2/14/1310131/why-the-wizards-mavericks-trade-is




Why the Wizards-Mavericks trade is an all-around epic fail

Most NBA trades involving rebuilding teams have to be evaluated in three components. One is whether the rebuilding team got somewhat decent current talent back. The Wizards clearly didn't. The second is whether they got young talent or future assets back. The Wizards didn't. The third is whether it saved money, both in the short and long term. The Wizards saved money long-term and a little bit short-term, but didn't get out of the luxury tax this year, so it's not a complete success there either.

But the reason this trade is a failure is above all that. It's not just about getting no talent back or not clearing enough salary to get under the luxury tax this year. It's not just about sacrificing two somewhat valuable assets for nothing more than a little extra room under the luxury tax and flexibility in 2011. It's not just about bringing in two guys who aren't great characters and would take away minutes from the young players.

No, it's about the coalescence of bad planning, a bad read of the market, a lack of creativity, misplaced priorities and a lack of understanding about what the fans want and what they want to hear. That's why this trade stinks.



To get into the right mode, let's begin by speaking the Wizards' language. The bottom line is that the Wizards desperately need to cut payroll, both current and future. The team stinks, and they're also paying a hefty luxury tax bill. They're also in the process of being sold, and the current owners cannot agree with the future owner on the right price. As much as we as fans don't want to hear about finances, since it isn't our money, that's what's driving this move and any additional moves we make before the trade deadline. Cutting money is more important to this team right now than getting current talent back or holding out for some B-level prospect like J.J. Hickson or even Rodrigue Beaubois (for Dallas to say he's untouchable, that's ridiculous at its face value. They're just trying to pump up his value).

Does this trade allow the Wizards to cut money? Technically, yes. The Wizards will save about $2.5 million this year (double that for the tax) and $15 million in 2010/11 by swapping Stevenson out as well. That sounds like a lot of money, and technically, it is. But this trade fails to do the two things that are absolutely necessary to improve the finances of this team. It doesn't eliminate the Wizards' luxury tax penalty, and it doesn't save money in the long, long term. No additional money is saved past 2011, because Stevenson and Butler are off the books by then, and the tax isn't eliminated because, for some odd reason, the Wizards didn't force Dallas to take on Fabricio Oberto for their traded player exception as a price for getting two very good players for nothing.

The last sentence is an example of the lack of creativity here, as well as the lack of planning. I don't have an idea of whether the Wizards decided they need to go into full seller mode sooner than the last few weeks, but as recently as December, Ernie Grunfeld was talking about not having his "full deck" of players. As recently as January, there were vibes that Ernie wanted to hold off on a full-out sale. I don't know if it was all a mask for what Ernie was trying to do, but it certainly seems like he didn't wake up and smell the roses until far too late. All that time wasted was time where minor pieces could have been moved to cut into that luxury-tax bill. The Hornets, for example, completely eliminated their luxury-tax bill by moving the following players: Rasual Butler (summer), Tyson for Emeka (summer), Devin Brown, Hilton Armstrong and Bobby Brown. They saw a problem on the horizon, planned ahead and accomplished their goal. We sat there and did nothing.

There were all sorts of ways to help avoid the tax. With Memphis worried about Rudy Gay and needing another bench piece, why not inquire about trading Nick Young for their open cap space? How about Mike James for a smaller 2011 contract? DeShawn Stevenson for a smaller 2011 contract that's equally cruddy? These smaller moves would have required more creativity, but would have advanced the goal of getting further under that tax and made it less necessary to dump two decent assets (good players, both of whom are on fair deals and expire before 2011 CBA-gate) for tax room.

And here's another example of bad planning: thinking that Butler and Haywood (and Stevenson, for that matter) are must-dumps. As I wrote earlier this week, the true bad contract on the roster is Antawn Jamison's (well, besides Gilbert Arenas'). Jamison is the one with the larger contract than Butler. Jamison's the one that's 33 and could potentially scare teams away because of his age. Jamison's the one that extends past the 2011 CBA, which only adds more uncertainty to the proceedings even if a) the new CBA isn't as bad as we all think and b) the old contracts can get renegotiated.

But for some reason, whether out of loyalty to Jamison, a misunderstanding of his skills and/or a narrow-minded point of view that only considered that Jamison's been a better player than Butler this season, the Wizards felt that he wasn't as essential to get off the payroll for salary relief instead of Butler and Haywood. That, to be frank, is a ridiculous point of view. We're currently slated to pay $34 million in 2012 to just two players (Arenas and Jamison), when cap flexibility will be most important because of the new CBA. That's when there's tons of potential for the type of unbalanced trades that could net us additional draft picks (like what OKC did the last couple years). To me, not having cap space next year isn't the end of the world - we shouldn't be splurging in the 2010 free agent market anyway because we're at the beginning of rebuilding. Not having cap space in 2012, however, is a problem.

It's not just bad long-term planning either; it's bad short-term planning. The Wizards seem like they're still trying to trade Jamison, figuring that moving Butler out was more of a priority. Ostensibly, they felt they could wait out the Cavaliers for Jamison, hoping they'd cave and give up J.J. Hickson. In response, Cleveland appears to have said "Fine, we'll just go for Amare Stoudemire instead." Down goes our best option to move Jamison's bad contract off the books. Boston still seems interested, I guess, but the contracts don't match up (the reason Butler was included in the initial rumor was to get the contracts to add up to Ray Allen). So where do we move Jamison now? If the answer is nowhere, this is an epic fail, and that's looking more and more likely now. As I wrote earlier this week, the worst-case scenario of keeping Butler is way better than the worse-case scenario of keeping Jamison. Now that Butler's been shipped out, we've just increased our chances of keeping Jamison. Bad, bad bad. (Note: if we move Jamison for cap relief, I'll back down from this, but it doesn't look good).

So we've now hit at why this trade shows bad planning, a lack of creativity and a bad read of the market. However, it's the last two criticisms that really make me mad. I practically threw my computer on the floor when I read this:

You may be wondering, as I am, why Washington chose this deal instead of another blockbuster that would’ve sent Jamison and Butler to Boston for a package including Ray Allen. According to sources, a handful of Eastern Conference GMs pressured Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld to shy away from the Boston deal for obvious reasons. "It would screw up the balance of power in the East for three years," one executive said. One theory circulating in Dallas is that Grunfeld didn’t want to alienate other teams he might need to do business with as he continues dismantling the roster in the wake of the Gilbert Arenas firearms fiasco.

If Ken Berger is to be believed (obviously not a given), this is downright insulting to Wizards fans. Ernie Grunfeld was talked out of helping Boston by his competition??? You've got to be kidding me. As Wizards fans, I don't care who our trade makes better. I care about whether it's good for our team. I don't give a hoot if we mess up the "balance of power in the East." Screw those guys. And to think that EG made the Dallas trade just to make it easier to trade Jamison is just ... I mean, how ridiculous is that? Cleveland's moving to Amare Stoudemire anyway. If Ernie really made this trade for those reasons, he should be fired immediately.

The other thing that really bugs me is this disingenuous attempt to sell this trade based on on-court merits. In a sense, I guess Ernie has no choice. He can't go out there and say "we've decided to stink for the time being." But one thing that Ted Leonsis preaches is the need for transparency. An excerpt.

Once you make the decision to rebuild--be transparent. Articulate the plan and sell it loudly and proudly to all constituencies, the media, the organization, the fans, your partners, family and anyone who will listen. Agree to what makes for a successful rebuild--in our case it is "a great young team with upside that can make the playoffs for a decade and win a Stanley Cup or two."

Leonsis' 10 points aren't all easily transferrable to the NBA, but that one is. I could be wrong, but I think that most Wizards fans understand that the current mix is never going to win a championship. We also mostly understand that we're far enough away that a minor tweak won't do it. You can be frank with us and say "we weren't winning with this mix, so we're doing the necessary things to ensure we'll be at that level in the near future. One of those is to have necessary payroll flexibility" or whatever. Instead, we get this, from the press release:

"Our four new players bring versatility and the experience of playing in a winning situation," said Grunfeld. "Josh and Quinton can each play both the shooting guard and small forward positions while providing athleticism and outside shooting. Drew can play both the power forward and center positions and he and James give us an inside presence that combines skill and toughness."

I mean ... come on! Josh Howard and Quinton Ross are shooting 27 and 23 percent from three-point range this season. They provide outside missing, not outside shooting. And to say Gooden and Singleton provide "an inside presence that combines skill and toughness" is so vague it's not even worth anything.

To his credit, Ernie does throw a nod to "financial flexibility" in an interview with Mike Jones, but there's also a need for "freshness" and how Josh Howard was an all-star three years ago. Then, there's also the "retool on the fly" language from a couple weeks ago. I realize you don't need to tell the truth with these things, but you also don't need to outright lie. Emphasize the future, not the present. We'll understand and appreciate your candor. Just note how young GMs like Kevin Pritchard in Portland and David Kahn in Minnesota have skillfully emphasized the future in their situations and have gone out of their way to connect with the fans. I know I'd feel better about our future if I heard more language from the horses mouth about it.

This got long-winded, but to review: this trade stinks because:

•We got no current talent back.
•We got no future talent or assets back.
•We traded two cap-friendly deals (at least relatively so) for nothing.
•We didn't eliminate our luxury tax bill, we only took steps towards doing it, while sacrificing two valuable assets in the process.
•We didn't cut long-term salary (i.e. past 2012).
•We didn't get more creative in getting more value for our players and/or cutting our luxury tax bill.
•We traded the wrong guys first and may now be stuck with Antawn Jamison's bad contract.
•We didn't demonstrate any sort of long-term plan, both in the past (leading up to this deal) and the future (going past this deal).
•We seem to have misunderstood or misplayed the market, though obviously that could change in the coming days depending on future moves.
•We seem more concerned with currying favor among other GMs than helping our team.
•We didn't control the message at all, making us seem disingenuous to us fans.

I wish Caron and Brendan (and DeShawn) well in Dallas. They gave years of great service here, and they deserve a proper sendoff. We'll give them that in the coming week. For now, I'm just angry, sad and depressed about this trade and what it says about the state of our team. From all angles, it was a really, really bad trade