http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...608.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers July 14, 2005 latimes.com : Sports : NBA : Lakers Print E-mail story Most E-mailed Team will give up Butler and either Atkins or George to acquire the former overall No. 1 pick from the Wizards. By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer The Lakers have taken another bold step to remake their roster, agreeing in principle on a trade that would bring forward-center Kwame Brown from the Washington Wizards and would send Caron Butler and likely Chucky Atkins to Washington. Brown, 6 feet 11, was drafted No. 1 overall in 2001 and fell on hard times last season with the Wizards, but he has the potential to be an impact post player. ADVERTISEMENT Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Wizard President Ernie Grunfeld declined to comment Wednesday, but sources said the components of the deal were in place involving Brown and Butler. The Wizards could choose small forward Devean George instead of Atkins to complete the deal. NBA teams cannot announce free-agent signings or sign-and-trade transactions until a league moratorium is lifted July 22. Brown, 23, received two guaranteed years with a third-year option held by the team. The Lakers will not be parting with the 2006 first-round pick they received from the Miami Heat in the Shaquille O'Neal trade last July. In 2001, Brown became the first high school player taken with the top pick in the draft, but he has been erratic and enigmatic throughout his first four seasons. Last season, he was suspended before Game 5 of the Wizards' first-round series against the Chicago Bulls and missed seven playoff games because he had groused as his playing time decreased, claiming a stomach illness and missing a practice. Brown was also suspended for a game last December because he reportedly walked away from the huddle during a timeout as Wizard Coach Eddie Jordan questioned his failure on a defensive assignment. In his first two seasons, Brown clashed with aging guard Michael Jordan and former Wizard coach Doug Collins. Brown showed traces of improvement in his third season, averaging a career-best 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds, but he broke his right foot during a pickup game last summer and started the 2004-05 season on the injured list. Brown was out of shape most of last season, playing only 42 games and averaging seven points and 4.9 rebounds. He was booed at home numerous times. Off the court, Brown has been troubled, getting arrested in 2002 for driving 120 mph and again in 2003 for driving under the influence. The Wizards are interested in Butler in the wake of losing unrestricted free-agent guard Larry Hughes to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Butler, who played small forward and shooting guard last season, was one of the Lakers' most consistent players down the stretch, averaging 21.9 points over his last 15 games. Butler, 25, was one of three players acquired from Miami in the O'Neal trade. If the Lakers waive Brian Grant to save $30 million in luxury taxes as part of a one-time amnesty provision under the new collective bargaining agreement, Lamar Odom would be the only Laker left from the O'Neal trade. Atkins, 30, averaged a career-best 13.6 points last season for the Lakers but his lack of size made him a poor fit for a triangle offense that has historically worked better with taller guards under Phil Jackson. With the addition of Brown, the Lakers would have under contract Kobe Bryant, Odom, Chris Mihm, Jumaine Jones, Brian Cook, Slava Medvedenko, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf. Atkins or George would also be under contract. * THE DEAL Lakers acquire: • Center-forward Kwame Brown and agree in principle on a two-year contract with Brown, including a team option for a third year. Lakers send: • Forward Caron Butler and probably point guard Chucky Atkins to Washington. The Wizards are likely to take Atkins but could choose forward Devean George to complete the deal.
The Lakers got a great deal here, considering they didn't have to give up a draft pick. Atkins is easily replaceable, and Butler isn't as good as he thinks he is. Kwame has nowhere to go but up. Basically, the Lakers are playing the stock market. The only problem is that Phil Jackson isn't known as a developer of young talent and Kwame doesn't really have a mentor on the team.
I'm surprised it is such a short deal: 2 years with a team option for a third. Just what the Lakers need, I suppose, to protect them from Kwame going bust (again). And, I suppose it is good for Kwame too if he instead finally blossoms. But it's a risk for him if he's injured badly -- or continues to suck.
I don't know. I think the Wizards got the better end of the deal. Butler really came on in the second half of the season last year and started to show how good he is while Kwame has done nothing in the league but be a headache. Plus, they probably get a nice scoring PG to replace Dixon who is probably leaving. They rid themselves of Brown and fill two holes in one move.
i think this trade helps both teams. the WIZ needed someone to replace houghs. butler may not get as many steals but he can score when given the chance. the LAKERS add another bigman to a team that only had mihm for most of last year. is divac coming back? if he isn't this is how i see thier roster shaping up under phil: mihm-brown-medvedenko odom-turiaf-cook george-walton-jones kobe AD seems like a good trade partner for the rockets.
That's true in that they've already lost everything they were going to lose with Kwame. Actually getting players in return is just gravy. I'm not sure though that Butler and Atkins completely compensates for completely squandering a #1 overall pick.
Butler's a poor replacement for Hughes, especially on the defensive end. But hey, at least he's close to starting material and they didn't have to use their MLE to bring him in. The Chucky Atkins angle leads me to expect the announcement of an Antonio Daniels signing this week by the Lakers. Evan
Looks less likely with this move. They agreed to decide on Divac just before training camp - which translates to mean they want to see if they can get any big men to replace him first. If Bynum looks at all servicable, I'd expect Divac to be jobless soon. Evan
I am surprised at the short deal too. But perhaps what they are doing is what GATER suggested we do with Swift, sign to a 2 year deal and then have the players 'early bird rights' to sign him to a bigger deal. So if he blossoms he gets the big raise and if he sucks they can let him go. Perhaps Kwame getting this deal and setting an example in the market will help the Rockets with Swift
This is the worst possible situation for Kwame Brown. His problems in Washington early on stemmed from the fact that Micheal Jordan completely shattered his ego. Now, he goes to a team with the bext biggest ego-maniac in the league - Kobe Byrant.
Wow. Mitch Kupchak finally makes a decent move, Odom can play at the three with Brown and Mihm inside, all they have to do now is get a PG and they have a playoff team, even if it is a lower seed. The Wizards will take a step back, Butler will not be able to score as much, he'll rebound a little bit better, but he won't be as big of a disruption on defense as Hughes was, nor will he pass as well as Hughes did.
I had hoped Kwame would get traded so he could get a fresh start and I had hoped that he would do well. But getting traded to the Lakers??? No way can I root for him now.
I wonder how much he's gonna get paid, it can't be too much since Butler and George don't make all that much. With Haslem, James, and Brown signing for pretty decent deals, hopefully it's a sign to come I like this deal for both teams. The Wiz get a good replacement for Hughes and George would be a good bench player. The Lakes take a big risk in Brown that could turn out to be a steal. But like some of ya'll already posted, playing for PJ and Kobe won't be any easier than playing for MJ.
Hell of a spotlight for Kwame Brown to endure in Los Angeles. Will he wilt next to Kobe Bryant? Will Phil Jackson get him to wake up? I would bet that when Phil says, "We're gonna teach you to run the triangle," Kwame will NOT counter with, "Would that be an isosceles triangle?" If it weren't for the Lakers being #1 on my most-despised team in sports, I'd want Kwame to prove the naysayers wrong, including me. But Washington got a good deal. No way was Larry Hughes worth the money the Cavs spent on him. Caron Butler's a good player and could keep the Wizards in the playoff hunt.
true, but if the stories are to be believed, jordan was just plain mean and a b*stard to kwame. i suppose he saw his legacy as a gm riding on kwame and when kwame turned out to be less hardworking than hoped for, he decided to "toughen him up" and in the process caused even more damage. kobe has nothing invested in kwame's development other than making the lakers good and helping kobe's overall legacy, but that would go for anyone on the team. and one would suspect the image-conscious kobe has to know he needs to rehabilitate said image, and thus alienating and destroying kwame even more isn't the way to go about doing that. as for the lakers, i assume kwame will be the starting pf and allow odom to go back to sf. if they sign daniels, then AD/kobe/odom/kwame is a pretty tall and long pg through pf combo.
That made me realize: -The Triangle offense is notoriously difficult for players to learn at first -Kwame, even as of last year, constantly drove his teammates and coaches up the wall by going in and not remembering what to do in certain plays or defenses. This could be interesting. Phil doesn't take well to slow learners. In fact, it makes the trade curious. Phil's always been huge on high IQ guys, even at the expense of more athletic or talented players (especially if they're rookies). How does Kwame fit? Evan
Im gonna go the other way and say great trade for the Wizards. They get Atkins who will be great off the bench and is a threat beyond the arch. They also get Caron who for some reason is getting bashed around here and Kwame is being treated like he has done something in his 4 years. Caron averaged 15.5 points last year Kwame averaged i beleive 7. Kwame is as much of an underachiver as they come. This could potientally be a very good deal for the Lakers but i have to go with the sure thing. Whoever said their is nowhere to go but up is not true. There is alawys a lower point ala Eddie Griffin.
I don't think he's being bashed, but he's not really anything special. He's a scorer, but not a guy you'd ride. He's had nagging health issues in his first 3 years (not a good sign) and hasn't improved his game much at all since entering the league. Mediocore defender, okay rebounder as a 3. Pretty good third option player for a team. Evan
