With apologies to Manimal Smith who started talking about this over a week ago, I think that if the Wizards are going to trade anyone this year, they should trade Caron Butler.  I like Butler generally, but he's just not fitting into the new offensive system, he has just the eighth-best PER on the team (according to KnickerBlogger's stats and discounting Paul Davis and Mike James), and is liked and respected around the league and could bring back some decent value.  So here are some ideas, all of which have been cleared through the ESPN Trade Machine (and I'm also trying to be reasonable for what the other teams will agree to):

The Pipe Dream: Butler to Golden State for Andris Biedrins and Anthony Morrow

This is a lot for Golden State to give up, and is predicated on Nelson deciding he hates Biedrins, which isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.  Biedrins has a great contract ($9m over five years) and could replace Haywood if the team decides they want to part ways with him this offseason.

The TruthAboutIt.net White Knight Tribute (jokes): Butler and Dominic McGuire to Philly for Jason Kapono, Primoz Brezec and Jason Smith

Kapono isn't great but could do a very good job coming off the bench and being run off of all of Saunders's screens, and both his and Brezec's contracts expire after this season.  Meanwhile, Eddie Jordan gets a few guys who know the Princeton, and he can go back to giving McGuire minutes instead of other guys who might deserve them.

The "This Either Makes Too Much Sense, or No Sense": Butler to the Clippers for Marcus Camby

Camby becomes the backup center and his contract expires after this year.  Butler gives the Clippers the option to not retain Al Thornton if they don't want to and still have some talent in between Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin.

The "I Hope He Wasn't One of the Guys Who Hated Saunders": Butler and Javaris Crittenton to Detroit for Rip Hamilton

Hamilton's contract isn't great, but he's certainly familiar with the offense, while the Pistons get to continue to turn the page into a new era.

The Salary Dump: Butler to Chicago for Jerome James and Jannero Pargo

Both players have expiring contracts; the problem with this one is that I don't know where Butler fits into the Salmons-Deng-Thomas rotation.  Maybe they move Thomas in addition to this deal.

The "I'm Running Out of Ideas": Butler and Nick Young to Portland for Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster

Steve Blake gets a homecoming of sorts (which would've mattered more with EJ), plus Portland clears some of their backcourt logjam.  I don't love that Webster has four years left on his deal, but it's a reasonable overall price (less than $4.5m) and both the Blake and Outlaw contracts expire after this season.

Thoughts?