The Mavericks and Wizards completed a big trade this week, with seven players changing addresses. The Wizards sent Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavs in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quentin Ross and James Singleton. Here are some of my thoughts on how this could play out fantasy-wise.
Butler: This has the potential to be a good move for Butler, if he really is healthy and ready to carry a bigger role. The only potent scorer in the Mavericks line-up is Dirk Nowitzki, and all of the other three starters (Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, and whoever they start at center) are essentially garbage-men scorers. As such, Butler should be able to get at least as many shots as he did in Washington but likely with better looks playing off Nowitzki with Kidd setting him up. Butler has been a bit of a fantasy disappointment thus far on the season, but if he's healthy and clicks with his team (two significant 'ifs') that could change after the break.
Howard: Howard has been an injury-filled enigma for the past couple of seasons, so it's hard to project what he has left in the tank. He wasn't good enough this season to take the secondary scorer role that I believe the Mavs wanted from him (and what they may now get from Butler), and since the team had postseason aspirations he kind of fell out of the optimal rotation. In Washington, if he's healthy, he could get a second chance to grab some offensive clout since that whole team is up for grabs right now. But the "if he's healthy" is a big part of the equation, and until I see that he is I can't really endorse him even in his new environment.
Haywood: Haywood is like a younger, healthier version of Eric Dampier. Which could be a very good thing for him, because when he's been healthy Dampier has been borderline-dominant on the glass. Dampier has averaged over 12 boards in the 15 games this season where he has played at least 29 minutes, and Haywood has a similar skill-set on the boards. Two years ago Haywood was a fantasy breakout player before injuries hit, and he has that potential in the big man categories for the Mavs.
Gooden: Gooden was solid in Dallas when he got big minutes and/or when Dampier was hurt, and he has shown in the past that he can be a consistent double-double guy. But the situation is so murky in Washington that I'm not sure Gooden earns a role. Keep an eye out just in case he eventually ends up getting starter minutes, but in the meantime I'm not excited.
The other three players should essentially just be role-players/trade fodder, but you never know. My rule of thumb is to always pay more attention to teams that trade, because everyone involved has the chance to change their outlook in a way they likely wouldn't have pre-trade. Andray Blatche and Javale McGee are two young bigs for the Wizards that have the chance to step into the center vacuum with Haywood gone. They, along with Butler and Haywood, seem to make out the best from this deal in my estimation.