well, the wizards are continuing to stink up the joint. fans are beginning to call for eddie jordan's head--the team doesn't play defense, and they don't pass on offense. if the wizards continue to lose to horrible teams, trading butler goes from very unlikely to slightly possible. if houston continues to flounder, it goes from slightly possible to possible that wizards would unload him for a very high draft pick. butler seems to be a perfect role player when looking at the box scores--scores, rebounds, steals, etc. but there is something missing with him. he has the "first option" syndrome--he's only really effective when he's given the green light to score, as opposed to larry hughes, who was effective as a penetrator and distributor if necessary. butler looks out of place with jamison and arenas. he's not as much of a good defender as people make him out to be, but he's at least physical. he'd be a good fit with the rockets--someone who could score with yao and mcgrady on the bench.
If we traded for Butler that would be 4 teams for him in 4 years......that has to be extremely annoying for him.
1. he's always a valuable trading commodity for desperate teams. 2. teams get tired of him after a while, despite his good numbers and good play--he's skilled and works hard, but maybe lacks the basketball IQ to actually benefit his team on the court. compare him to shane battier, a player with a similar role in the NBA. both are asked to defend good perimeter scorers, shoot the three when wide open, and crash the boards. basically a utility player. what butler lacks that battier has--the ability to make the pass to the open man, the ability to stop shooting at the appropriate time, and the ability to defend both tall SG and SF. battier is a legitimate SF at 6'7". butler is listed at 6'7" but is closer to 6'5".
The Wizards weren't exactly desperate when they acquired him through the S&T for Kwame. I also wouldn't consider the Lakers desperate either. They weren't exactly too thrilled to be trading Shaq away but if they were going to do it they were going to demand Miami's then best players, besides Wade. I disagree with the Battier comparison. The only thing Butler and Battier really have in common is that they play the same position. Butler is a scorer, Battier is a defensive specialist. Sure, each player can do some of what the other player does well but each has their own, unique style of play and role on their respective teams. Labeling Buter a "utility player" is probably inappropriate since despite being a journeyman thus far, he has been a dependable 3rd option for every team he's been on. I don't really consider somebody who averages 16 PPG a "utlility player". Make no mistake about it though, Butler can play solid defense as well. He's a strong, aggressive defender and rebounder that plays with no quit. He's just not as good at it as Battier. Would I like to see Butler in a Rockets uniform? Absolutely, but can you offer me any kind of assurance that he won't just walk at season's end due to him being a FA? That's where the problem lies, in my opinion.
he's not a free agent. wizards signed him to an extension at the beginning of the season. i meant that the teams unloading him are usually desperate, meaning they are willing to give up a good player because they know their team is going nowhere with him anyway. you're right. butler is more of a scorer than battier by nature--i believe that's part of his problem in terms of positive contribution(i follow the wizards closely). his scoring is isolation based, and doesn't create for others. what i meant by the battier comparison was--as a third wheel, his presence is more valuable to a good team because he's both a threat to score and a threat to be a playmaker. so the other 4 defenders just can't stand and watch as battier isolates his man and jacks up a shot, they have to constantly watch their own man. butler lacks this. despite all that, he's a lot better than anything else the rockets could probably get through trade or draft.
i would add, although butler is averaging 16 points a game, on a good team, i don't want him scoring that much, given his shooting percentages and scoring style. he's really only forced to shoot that much on the wizards because they have no passing game and depend on arenas, jamison, and butler to isolate their opponents all night. the other two players never touch the ball--someone's got to score. he'd be much better on the rockets, i think, with two scorers already here who also have the awareness and ability to create for other teammates. he could focus more on rebounding and perimeter defense. the offensive style of the rockets would have to be seriously reconsidered with three legitimate scorers in the lineup--no more standing around.
Oh yea, I forget they signed him---I checked hoopshype and they don't have the figures posted so I assumed he was a FA. I have never considered Battier (as a pro) to be anything more than a defensive specialist that's just an overall efficient player. I've been a league pass subsriber for years now so I have seen both the Wizards and Grizzlies play enough. I have also noticed Butler goes on stretches where he looks for too many ISO-situations instead of looking for the best available option. It seems like he just tries to do too much. The problem for the Wizards is its that's pretty much how Arenas and Jamison function too so Butler probably isn't the greatest fit in Washington. They could use a solid, efficient, defense-first kind of player like Battier that will only look to score when needs to. I'm not sure where you are going with this notion of Battier being some kind point-forward or playmaker. He's probably an average passer, at best, that works in an offense where he's not asked to do much besides hit open shots, crash the boards and be an energy player. Sure, he will post up sometimes but he's at his best when being a catch-and-shoot type player feeding off of opportunities created by others. I will give him credit though, he plays 35-minutes a night and doesn't make many mistakes or turn the ball over much but I also think it's important that you not confuse that with labeling him as some kind of gifted passer/playmaker from the forward spot. I just don't see it. Look at somebody like Francis. Is he a good passer/playmaker? Sure, he is is. Granted, he does turn the ball over 4 times a game. Does him being a good playmaker mean he's always an efficient player though? As we all know of first hand, no he's not always an effective. Where I am going with this is: just because he turns the ball over doesn't mean he's not a good playmaker. For Battier, it's kind of the opposite and I think it's important to make that distinction. Although Butler's passing and playmaking abilites aren't much better than Battier's anyways, so it's probably just a mute point. I would have to see the figures for his extension before I would jump on board the Butler Ship, but based on his ability and what i've seen far from him in the league I like what I see. It's just kind of shame if he does get dealt since that will make 4 teams in 4 years---which has to be very frustrating.
no, i don't think battier is a playmaker at the level of pippen, or even odom. but the guy has enough awareness/court sense to know when to shoot and when to pass--a simple trait that can make a huge difference in terms of keeping the game at a desired pace and preventing stagnation on the offensive end. battier is equally focused on setting picks, weak-side defending, and spacing, rather than just waiting for the ball and jacking it up. he's not a great player, but you need all of your players to be aware if you're going to build a championship team. i'm being harsh on butler because i think he could be more valuable than he is--in other words, i think his scoring mentality actually makes teams more willing to deal him that not. in other words, if he were 6'8", he'd be a franchise player to build on. you're right, he's still a valuable defender, despite his size limitations. i actually think his defensive intensity and rebounding at the SG spot is more valuable than his scoring ability.
that's getting pretty realistic. even though head hasn't really shown the handles to play point, he could still develop into a decent combo guard eventually. they had a point guard in atkins, but eddie jordan refused to play him and he whined. basically, this is a steal for the rockets, if it were possible. like i said, head has some potential, but not as a third option on a good team. the 1st round pick is a crapshoot as usual--with butler, you're getting a sure thing who can be a 3rd option on a good team (and even a 1st option on a horrible team).
So theoretically, if we were to pursue a trade for Butler how exactly do we go about doing it? As somebody pointed out before, he's on a "poison pill" deal and we would almost certainly have to talk either Etan Thomas or Antonio Daniels off of their hands. Sounds like a very difficult deal to pull off.
Realistically, to pursue Butler (and I think it'd be a good idea; plays D, can get us about 15 pts per game), we would have to wait until the summer. Realistically. Otherwise, you're looking at salary dumps onto teams with cap space, salary dumps by the Wizards and maybe even the team receiving Butler.
