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The first big move of the NBA trade season went down Saturday as Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson were traded from the Washington Wizards to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton.

The trade is a very good one for Dallas getting the best player in the deal in Butler who, while not having his best season, is still easily out-producing Howard.  Stevenson is a serviceable player in the backcourt that could help in spurts.  Haywood is also a nice addition giving the Mavericks more size to compete in the West.  Haywood is one of only three players in the NBA averaging 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocks this season.

Dallas improved itself by 3 percent per game with this trade.  Howard has played in just 31 games this season, and is having his worst season since his rookie year in 2004.  Butler will be much more dependable.  Being on a contender and no longer the number one option might also help Butler’s low 42 percent shooting percentage. Eric Dampier has injury concerns, and Haywood could easily provide solid defense and rebounding in either a starting or reserve role.  While the trade isn’t earth-shattering in terms of the final standings, it should help the Mavs compete in a seven-game series against either the Nuggets or the Lakers. 

Interestingly, this trade actually improved the Wizards as well.  Washington is slightly better now because Howard has a track record of being a solid player with better career shooting numbers than Butler.  Drew Gooden has shown himself to be a solid low-post scoring option at times in his career, particularly on bad teams.  Even if either player doesn’t do much in a Wizards uniform, Washington can say it “won” this deal by clearing some salaries off the books, which was the ultimate goal.  All four newly acquired players are in the final year of their contracts.