Rumor Mongering: The Butler Conundrum

Posted by Rob Mahoney on February 8, 2010 under Commentary, Rumors |

The three players most commonly linked to the Mavs are all wings: Kevin Martin, Andre Iguodala, and Caron Butler. The Mavs’ interest is said to flow in that order, meaning that acquiring Butler may very well be a back-up plan. It’s definitely an option, but hardly the option.

Which could be a problem. From Marc Stein in the Weekend Dime:

As my ESPN.com colleague Chad Ford wrote Thursday, Washington’s preference is moving Butler ahead of team statesman Antawn Jamison, who has been chased hard by Cleveland since last season and with particular vigor since the Cavs lost out to Charlotte in the trade race to acquire Stephen Jackson.

On the surface, a Jamison-to-Cleveland trade would seem somewhat irrelevant to the Mavs; a team in the opposite conference would get stronger by preying off of another team in the opposite conference, with none of the Mavs’ rumored targets directly compromised. But consider this: Cleveland is supposedly aggressively pursuing Antawn Jamison via trade, while the Mavs supposedly have something of a Josh Howard-Caron Butler swap on the back-burner. Though Washington may prefer to move Butler, they may not be in a position to move both Butler and Jamison. Trading away all of the talent opens up quite the can of worms, and the Wiz will have a rough go of it drawing season ticket holders and free agents alike if there are no ballers of note left in D.C. by summer.

If Jamison is indeed item 1-A on the Cavs’ agenda, it could put the Mavs in a tough spot: either Dallas strives for a possibly more attainable target in Butler (remember, Sacramento is still unwilling to move Kevin Martin and Andre Iguodala likely has Samuel Dalembert tied to his ankle as a salary anchor), or could miss out entirely if the Mavs’ other plans fall through and Cleveland scores Jamison. It’s a bit premature for the Mavs to jump on a deal for Butler, but there’s definite reason for the decision-makers in Dallas to have their ear to the ground for tremors out of Cleveland.

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  • Crawford
    @useyourbrain I didn't take time to explain that I assumed Thomas and Singleton would boomerang back to us after being bought out. We obviously need the depth for a playoff run. Don't think it's the best deal either, just proving there are opportunities to bring in a lot of salaries when dealing with J-Ho and Damp together.

    And @preet, yes, it is looking like J-Ho's value is highest when he's a happy maverick. Here's to hoping we can channel that.
  • preet
    @ crawford, i dnt think dampier matches iggy/bert straight up...

    also, jho had a good game today, sure it was against the warriors but still, a very good sign
  • useyourbrain
    -5wins!!! Dampier, Gooden, Thomas, Singleton out?
    And who will play at center when Dalembert and Dirk will be out of court?
  • Crawford
    I think Iggy/Dalembert is a wonderful deal. I don't look at it as Sammy as an anchor, his contract extends only 1 year after this one. We would have to include Dampier in the deal, too, so getting a serviceable center is a plus. Length of contract is the killer, not size, and Dalembert's length is VERY appetizing.

    And while we are at it...why not pull the trigger on both deals. Since we'd have to use Dampier for the Iggy/Dalembert, why not use J-Ho for Butler.

    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/t...
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