The latest on the Caron Butler/Brendan Haywood trade rumors: Mavericks, Wizards agree to trade in principle

If this is Caron + Deshawn for Howard + filler, that’s fine. I’d like a prospect or a pick, but moving Deshawn off our books and getting cap flexibility a bit earlier (Caron = 2yrs, Howard = 1yr) is about as good as we’ll get.

But adding Haywood into the deal, in a swap of his expiring for Gooden’s expiring no less, is just plain stupid. I’ll say that again: BOTH OF THEM HAVE EXPIRING CONTRACTS. WE GAIN NOTHING, BY DEFINITION.

Hold out for Batum or Fernandez. Or make Dallas at least throw in their pick. Caron’s contract isn’t so bad for us, and Deshawn’s isn’t so big, that we need to entice Dallas to take them off our hands by throwing in a quality center who is also an expiring deal.

The Pollins are selling anyway, what do they care if the team reeks from now on? Make a good trade, and the Pollins can’t take the talent with them. Cash, on the other hand, is nice and portable.

and its name begins with a “C” and ends with an “N.” Almost every outside observer is saying the Haywood portion of the deal looks like a complete giveaway. Why? Is it because Brendan already had a “wink wink” deal with Dallas to sign a contract next year? Is that what forced us to include him in the deal, or else we’re not getting the deal, if you know what I mean? I’m reading in between the lines here of the articles stating that we were nervous that we might lose him next year. If there’s been any contact between Haywood’s agent and Dallas during the year, and the entire deal is contingent on Haywood being included as part of the deal, then there should be a complaint to the NBA. With draft picks on the line.

To get the roster back down the Wizards can waive Boykins now (or very soon). Seems likely since they’re fighting to get under the luxury tax limit.

I’d like for them to have gotten more (I mean let’s at least take a 2nd rounder), but this is still a positive move. I think most people are being unrealistic about what other teams would give for these guys. Butler is pretty much a negative with his contract the way he’s been playing this year, and Stevenson is a big negative. To get the expirings for them we’re only giving up 32 games of a lost season’s worth of Haywood’s services (in my opinion, there’s no point to re-signing him given the team’s situation and his age — and if we wanted to be idiots, we still could sign him next year — nobody’s giving him 6 years, so his Bird rights don’t mean much. We all know Brendan will follow the money). We can take a look at Singleton, but everyone else should walk (unless Howard experiences a renaissance). We’re left with some cap space and a lineup that allows us to give the young’uns a legit tryout.

I think avoiding the luxury tax is understandably a goal of the team that can’t be discounted. This saves them something like $1.4M off this year’s salaries (if they waive Boykins). If they can scrape off just a little more when they deal Jamison they’ll have saved themselves a whole lot of cabbage. I know $ doesn’t do anything on the court, but business-wise, this ain’t sabotage.

It’s been done before in the NBA, and there were penalties paid, but it is very hard to prove. And it makes the accusing team look bad, unless you’ve got the goods on them.

It is about money, and specifically about raising the sale price of the franchise by cutting future liabilities. As fans, we just have to watch — watch the Pollins cash checks and watch the team we follow crater with no near term prospects. And then we have to hope that the new owner will actually know how to run a professional sports franchise.

nothing like one-stop shopping… why hold out for actual young talent from portland or houston or do any extra work drawing up multiple trade agreements when you can just give guys away to dallas to get under the lux tax?

i guess, from the wizards perspective, it really makes little to no sense to pay a luxury tax for a team that sucks this bad, but what a disaster this season has been. this is icing on the cake.

i’ve been glad to see some ire around here “finally” (imo) directed toward saunders, but damn it ernie.

ps – mike you need to pick better weekends to “take breaks.”

this is the nba and the quickest way to contention is blow up the team and win the lottery, which the commissioner controls via, ahem, secret ballot. after arenas, he might feel he owes us one.

we r doing our part…come on david stern :)

Because any new owner in his right mind will be willing to pay more if the team he’s getting has better players on it. Rather, it’s about the Pollins squeezing the last few dollars out of the team before they sell it to someone else (making more money in the process, of course). Thereby demonstrating their Zero respect for the team or the fans in the District of Columbia. It’s all about their money. Also, if anyone ever had any doubt about where this family’s priorities are, or have been, this transaction speaks for itself. What a legacy.

Wow Dallas is going to be a powerhouse

Wizards ship going down! Forget improperly blowing the team up KILL THE FRANCHISE COMPLETELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EG is on heavy drugs

The Pollins will trade Antawn to the Knicks for Eddy Curry and cash. Curry comes off the books sooner than Antawn, so it’s a good move for the bottom line.

Then I’m not watching another game or spending another cent on this forsaken pathetic franchise until new ownership takes over and fires everyone (I’ll be ok with keeping the coaching staff). If Ernie is kept, then I’m going to suggest to my dad that he give up the season tix he has had for over 30 years.

This team needs to BUILD for the future, not hand over our most valuable pieces to save $10mil. This is a cruel fucking joke – we don’t want to become a better team and get young players for our valuable pieces – no we just want $$$. Fuck whomever is making this stupid fucking decision.

For our filler player, send them Blatche. He’s, at a minimum, a good complementary player on a reasonable multi-year salary (multi-year, oh noes!!!!)

In exchange for giving them Blatche instead of Oberto, they should give us their second-round pick.

THEN… (and here’s where the real genius sets in)

We sell that pick BACK to them in the offseason for cold, hard cash!

Brilliant, right?

We need to mass email him and beg for salvation (from this an other cataclysmic roster moves).

Why are you so sure we could get more? How many teams can really benefit from renting Haywood for the end of the season and playoffs? They’d have to be a contender and they’d have to need a center of Haywood’s caliber (we’ve had this debate before, but I’ll put foward my opinon again that he’s not a top-10 center — maaybe top 15). Then they’d need matching salaries that they’d be willing to move, and they’d have to be willing to give up what you all think we should have gotten for it (i.e., an important piece of their future plans). All of this for a guy that is going to go to the highest bidder this summer. Maybe not a total pipe dream, but certainly not guaranteed either. I don’t think this move even puts Dallas past Denver, so it makes sense that they’re not wiling to give up Beaubois in this deal.

This team is a joke not a real franchise