Butler, Haywood fail to impress in first game with Mavs

In their first game with the Dallas Mavericks last night, Brendan Haywood and particularly Caron Butler didn't put up strong performances in a 99-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Haywood, who posted decent numbers -- seven points and six rebounds -- in 15 minutes off the bench, also posted a +/- of -16. Butler, however, played worse despite being placed in the starting lineup and getting 31 minutes. Butler scored 13 points on 4-16 shooting and turned the ball over four times while grabbing six rebounds and recording one assist, one steal, and one block.

Not to be left out, DeShawn Stevenson posted similarly awful numbers to his time with the Wizards this season (2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds, 28.2 field goal percentage). In five minutes, Stevenson missed his only field goal attempt and also had a turnover. Not that it necessarily contributed much to the loss, but does it really make any sense for a solid team like the Mavericks to give Stevenson any minutes at all?

It's just one game, of course, and the Mavericks must adjust to how both Butler and Haywood play and interact with Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Shawn Marion, etc. Also, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle must become familiar with the fact that Stevenson just isn't very good and shouldn't see the court unless five or six Mavericks happen to foul out of the game.

So the Wizards dealt Butler and Haywood -- now what?

On Saturday, the Wizards and Mavericks completed the first major trade of the 2009-2010 season. In the deal, the Wizards sent Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson, and cash considerations to the Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton.

The addition of Butler and Haywood makes the Mavericks significantly better, while the Wizards were more concerned with dumping salary and... that's it, I guess. Howard has a team option of $11.8 million for next season, but there's no way the Wizards exercise that. Gooden's $4.5 million contract also expires after this season, as does Singleton's $1 million deal. The only player that Washington received who could still be in a Wizards uniform after this season is Ross, who will more than likely exercise his $1.1 million player option for next season.

So the Wizards saved a little money this year and about $13.5 million in 2010-2011 (around $15 million if Ross decides, for some reason, not to exercise his player option). Yet, as Mike Prada of Bullets Forever pointed out, the Wizards didn't save any money beyond next season with the deal. So, barring another cost-cutting move, like trading Antawn Jamison to Cleveland, etc., this trade doesn't make a whole lot of sense and seems a bit rushed. Still, if Ernie Grunfeld can find a way to ship Jamison out, it'll be a little easier to defend the trade.

Hopefully that move takes place, but we'll see what happens. Anyway, let's see what the Wizards got in return from the Mavericks.

Career Numbers	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	MPG
Josh Howard (29)	15.4	6.0	1.7	45.4	31.4
Drew Gooden (28)	11.8	7.8	1.1	47.1	27.3
Quinton Ross (28)	4.5	2.3	1.1	42.2	19.4
James Singleton (28)	3.3	3.1	0.4	47.9	11.1

2009-2010 Numbers	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	MPG
Howard	12.5	3.6	1.4	40.1	26.4
Gooden	8.9	6.9	0.6	46.7	22.2
Ross	2.0	1.0	0.3	41.1	11.1
Singleton	2.4	2.2	0.4	37.5	8.3

Looking at the above numbers, you can see that 1) the Wizards aren't exactly getting a ton of talent here, and 2) they're all within a year or two of turning 30. Also, all four players have had their minutes reduced this season, they're all shooting below their career averages, and because of both of those factors, they're all scoring fewer points. So did giving away any of these guys really hurt the Mavericks? Not really.

Howard has been described as a bad team guy, but you'd think he'd be on his best behavior in Washington now since he'll be looking for a new deal after this season. If he plays well, he may make himself a little bit of money in the offseason. Gooden isn't really great in any one area, but I'm sure Flip Saunders will give him at least a significant share of Haywood's minutes. Ross is one of the better perimeter defenders in the league, but he isn't much of an offensive player. And Singleton is extremely athletic but has never played more than 15 minutes per game in any of his four seasons in the NBA.

Still, this is the deal the Wizards made. So even though I hate to use a phrase like this, it is what it is. The Wizards wanted to shed some salary, and they gave up the two best players (Butler and Haywood) in the deal to do so. Maybe the Wizards could've gotten more from another team, but this is the trade Grunfeld made.

This is my wish for what the starting lineup looks like:

PG Randy Foye
SG Mike Miller
SF Josh Howard
PF Antawn Jamison
C Andray Blatche

The majority of the bench minutes could go to Nick Young, Earl Boykins (someone has to be the back-up point guard), JaVale McGee, Dominic McGuire, or any of the other three guys brought in via trade. However, I have a feeling that Saunders may not want to start Blatche and will opt for a similar lineup, with maybe Gooden or Fabricio Oberto at center. But I hope not. I'd also be shocked if Ross didn't see a lot of the court because he can actually play some defense.

Arenas and Blatche dominate as Wizards scorch Nets

After a rather mediocre performance (and a loss) on the road to the Hawks, the Wizards returned to Washington for their home opener against the New Jersey Nets. What followed was nothing less than an inspiring offensive assault: The Wizards scored 123 points and shot 61.5 percent from the field, including a staggering 64.3 percent (9-14) mark from three-point range.

Gilbert Arenas led the Wizards with 32 points, but Andray Blatche was right behind him, posting a career-high 30 points. On a night when just about everyone was shooting the ball efficiently, Arenas and Blatche were no different: Arenas put up those points on just 13 field goal attempts (9-13), including shooting 11-12 from the free-throw line, and Blatche knocked down an astounding 15 of 18 shots.

Randy Foye followed Blatche with 17 points, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson each had 10, and Mike Miller had nine.

So Arenas has looked more than solid so far, and Foye and Miller appear to be great pieces fitting in with their new teammates, but, to me, the story of the first three games has been the improved play of Andray Blatche. Yes, it's only been three games, but let's look at what Blatche has done: In each game, he's scored in double figures, shot at least 57 percent, and grabbed at least six rebounds. Of course he won't do that in every game, but Blatche looks like a completely different player. He looks comfortable on the floor, finally appears to be in shape, and is both knocking down open mid-range jumpers and scoring around the paint with an array of pivots and shot fakes. Blatche even has more assists than turnovers (still, just 4-3), which is at least worth noting considering he has more turnovers in his career (293) than assists (263).

Again, it's obviously too early to know if Blatche can keep this level of play going, but it is acceptable to look at his performance last night and wonder exactly how good he can be. According to Basketball-Reference.com, since 1986-1987 only 11 players have had games where they shot better than 83.0 percent on at least 18 field goal attempts while also recording six rebounds and two assists. Some of those players include Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Carlos Boozer, Shaquille O'Neal, Rashard Lewis, Shawn Marion, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Kevin McHale. That's certainly not a bad group of players to be associated with, although Willie Anderson and Loy Vaught also accomplished that feat within the same timeframe, so take that for what it's worth.

It'll be interesting to see how well Blatche plays when both Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison return to the Wizards' lineup. With the weapons the Wizards already seem to have, Blatche may just be the most intriguing piece.

Note to DeShawn Stevenson: Stop shooting

The Wizards are 4-20 right now, and they have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. It's pretty hard to believe that -- only four wins.

Yet the Wizards still play hard but find ways to lose winnable games. Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler have both been their usual selves; they both can score plenty of points and rebound, but neither can be called a defensive stopper by any means. Andray Blatche is actually playing better since Eddie Jordan got fired, and young guys like JaVale McGee, Dominic McGuire, and Nick Young have all shown glimpses of how they can significantly contribute down the road. And even though no one knows how good he can be, Javaris Crittenton could eventually turn into a serviceable young point guard to spell Arenas when/if he ever comes back. Hopefully Crittenton has a chance to play more as he becomes comfortable with the offensive and defensive schemes.

Mainly, Tapscott has done one thing well as interim head coach: play Blatche more. Blatche, who has now played more than 30 minutes four games in a row and started the last three, is averaging more minutes per game (23.7 to 16.9) and more points per game (11.5 to 6.7) in the 13 games under Tapscott. He's far from consistent, but Blatche actually appears to be improving each time he steps on the floor. More importantly, the Wizards have played better with Blatche in the game; he's the only player who plays consistent minutes with a positive +/- number at +14.

Unfortunately, Tapscott refuses to stop playing DeShawn Stevenson so many minutes. Stevenson is shooting 32.0 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range, yet he plays 29.7 minutes per game and also starts every game. Consider this: Out of 44 shooting guards who have enough three-point attempts to qualify, Stevenson is ranked 42nd. If he was just shooting a few a game, it wouldn't be a big deal; instead, of those same 44 players, Stevenson ranks 10th in three-pointers taken per game (4.7). So not only is he shooting a horrible percentage, but he also refuses to stop chucking them up. (Here's an idea: Remove hand from face -- then shoot.)

I'm not trying to blame Stevenson for the Wizards' 4-20 start by any means. Right now, they're just a bad team. But Stevenson shouldn't be playing more minutes than Nick Young, who is averaging more points (9.8) and a better field goal percentage (43.1) in 8.3 fewer minutes per game. Young isn't a good defensive player, but Stevenson isn't exactly Ron Artest either. When was the last time you watched a game and said, "Man, Stevenson is really locking his man down!" Probably never.

Watching Stevenson brick a bunch of shots on a four-win team isn't exactly thrilling. At least giving Young, McGuire, and McGee more minutes would give Wizards fans something to get excited about.