he Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks are nearing completion on a trade that will exchange Caron Butler(notes) and Josh Howard(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The teams were negotiating whether to expand the trade to include Wizards center Brendan Haywood, but one source with knowledge of the talks said he doesn’t expect the core of the deal – Butler and Howard – to unravel. Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson is expected to be moved to Dallas in either deal involving Butler.

The Mavericks would send Quinton Ross(notes) or Tim Thomas(notes) and possibly Drew Gooden to Washington if the trade also includes Haywood.

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What the hell are the Wiz doing. JHoward is still good, but low value right now and they want to trade CButler for him, a very good player, doesn't make sense. Yea they want to rebuild most likely, but they are losing talent and production here. What will happen if this goes down is that the Mavs become real contenders, as CButler gives them three allstar players and just adds a little more to what they currently have

TMC wrote:Butler is having a pretty average season, and Howard (team option) and Gooden's contacts are out of the books after the season. The Wizards will probably ask for a first rounder as well.

I think it's a good deal for both teams, the Mavs improve a bit by adding to starters to their core and the Wiz will start their rebuilding right away.

It is no sure thing that Haywood and Gooden are added in that trade, but if they are, even more lopsided in favour of the Mavs that would be. Butler is and has been more productive than JHoward for a couple of years now and though I like JHoward, Butler is better right now and would make the Mavs one of the most talented teams right away

The Butler for Howard part of the deal is financially motivated, but since Haywood's contract is up after this season I don't see why they are including him in this deal. It's not like Dallas is in any position to demand Haywood be included; they have been wanting to trade away Howard for awhile now.

If it's Haywood for expirings from Dallas I have no choice but to call the Wizards GM stupid. (an included pick from Dallas would make him less stupid)

Edit: I guess unloading Stevenson is also a goal of this trade. Kind of tilts it towards more fair...

Seems like the Wiz are going into rebuilding mode, or at least trying to gear up for the gold mine of the free agent off season. They're going to really try hard to trade Arenas because of his contract(good luck with that) and the troubles that occurred this season(good luck with that again).

The deal is done. It was a seven player trade which included Butler and Haywood to Dallas, JHoward and Gooden to Wiz. Dallas might well resign Haywood after this season and let go Dampier if they want or keep both so they are big winners

Dampier has been very efficient the last two seasons. He rebounds and blocks still like a madman, but he now has a very high FG%, just taking shots he can make, unlike he's time here, he's FG% was pretty bad for an inside only Center. He was good but not that efficient when he was here, but now he's very good at what he does. Haywood is similar, but I think his FT shooting will limit him in Dallas. At least Gooden is a very good shooter and was doing well there this season. Surprised they'd give him actually with Dampier injured a bit still. Be interesting how they use Haywood, but I think he won't play much in close games in fourth quarters

It's a bit disappointing for Wiz fans that no pick was involved, because it's clear the only thing the Wiz are getting is cap room, but it's a good deal for both sides nonetheless.

It's gonna be interesting to see what the Wiz will do til the deadline, because Jamison is as good as gone as well.

I just don't understand the mentality of some teams to have a fire sale and burn the whole f'n thing. So many teams seem to think they have a chance at getting one of those great free agents, somehow being the one team out of the 15 or so teams that are also throwing all they've got at those couple of players. So stupid. You keep what good things you've got and build on it. In the case of the Wiz, they keep Jamison and they should've kept Butler. They'd love to get rid of Arenas, but that's the story that we all know, but that's no reason for them to throw away everyone else they've got. They still have that salary of Arenas to pay out, so they gain nothing shedding, should be building.

Speaking of Jamison, he's not my preferred player here at all, but I'd have him at SF. He was a favourite here, proved to be a very good player here and could be nice to have back. That salary of his is a reason to stay the hell away from him, but who knows. Have a sneaking suspicion that Riley, the fool, probably tried to get him too