Why did Washington Trade with Dallas and Not us?

[Rida]

I don't see how Dallas' offer for Caron was better than our offer for Jamison and Butler for Ray and fillers.

With Washington their are no draft picks being exchanged and no contracts passed this year.

It is a straight salary dump on their part, so if Jamison is available as everyone is saying why wouldn't they package him with Caron for the biggest expiring contract possible. I also doubt Washington covets Howard long term they also face a bidding war with other teams which will drive up his price this off season.

There are two reasons I can think of that make any sense

1. Wojo of Yahoo sports says negotiations were going ahead and Danny needed to speak to ownership for their approval. Maybe Wyc didn't want to sign off on Jamison and Butler's large contracts.

2. Washington didn't want to trade two former all stars to the eastern conference.

What do you guys think? What were the reasons for Washington jumping into bed with Dallas and not us?

[Tai]

I'm willing to discuss this question directly if the Celtics don't get a trade done by Thursday.

As it stands, Miller and Jamison are still with the Wizards, and we could easily still trade Ray for them.

[Cman]

I'm willing to discuss this question directly if the Celtics don't get a trade done by Thursday.

As it stands, Miller and Jamison are still with the Wizards, and we could easily still trade Ray for them.

Ditto.
I'd be happy with Ray for Miller+Jamison.

[indeedproceed]

I'm willing to discuss this question directly if the Celtics don't get a trade done by Thursday.

As it stands, Miller and Jamison are still with the Wizards, and we could easily still trade Ray for them.

Ditto.
I'd be happy with Ray for Miller+Jamison.

Maybe that's why we didn't get Butler.

[thebirdman]

I think the most important thing is that Howard has a team option for next season. That gives WAS a lot of leverage on draft day. Teams will be looking to get more under the cap, so if WAS is willing to take on salary they could really get some great assets in return (especially high draft picks, young players)...

Secondly, Howard is a good player. Certainly better and with more potential than Ray.

Thirdly, WAS supposedly wants to trade Jamison separately...

[lon3lytoaster]

I'm willing to discuss this question directly if the Celtics don't get a trade done by Thursday.

As it stands, Miller and Jamison are still with the Wizards, and we could easily still trade Ray for them.

Ditto.
I'd be happy with Ray for Miller+Jamison.

Maybe that's why we didn't get Butler.

I don't know, I'd do Caron and Jamison for Ray, or Caron and Miller for Ray but I'm not nearly as interested without Caron.

I still say if we chase any big, Amare should be number one on the list, then probably Murphy and then Jamison.

[KG_ended_Bias]

Ric Bucher claims that the Celtics turned downed the Jamison & Butler deal because Butler is scheduled for 10mil. in 2010. But to me if the C's did indeed turn down that deal it was a huge mistake. Tough Juice Butler woulda been exactly what our defense was missing, and he is a good rebounder & proven scorer who can create himself. Darn WYC! I hope im wrong, but I dont feel Mike Miller fits our team better than Caron does. I would start Jamison at small forward & Pierce at Shooting guard before I would trust in Mike Miller. Wow I was thinking Butler & Jamison was a dream but it seems we were our own dream killer over money in 2010 which we most likely wont be able to sign a Big 5 name anyway in LeBron, Wade, Joe Johnson, Bosh & Stoudemire. Im a little bummed by this news, Danny please have something BIG up your sleeve like a Jamison & Mike Miller deal with Washington buying out Ray so he could come back to resume his starting spot.

[lon3lytoaster]

ouch that really hurts if we turned down Caron and Jamison for Ray. I thought Butler had a team option for next year?

Either way, bad non-move. You could always get Mike Miller next year in free agency for the MLE, where I think he'd be a more than decent pickup.

[xmuscularghandix]

I think Danny might have felt uneasy about having Jamison locked up with that huge salary for that many years.

[Brickowski]

Maybe the Wizards did not want to face Caron 4 times a year.

A separate question is why the Celtics didn't make an offer for Howard themselves.

[billysan]

We had a chance I think, but the price was just too high. The handwriting is on the wall, other teams are dumping salary or positioning themselves to do so next year. Why do we think our ownership will continue to spend when the cap may be coming down a bunch? We are also getting ready to negotiate a new CBA. That may have a big impact on these salaries and Free Agent player value as well. Why spend now and get stuck like the Knicks did when the same thing may be available much cheaper in a year or so?

The trade could still go forward with Ray for Jamison and Miller. That would save us a lot of money because of Miller being an expiring deal and not be a huge downgrade in talent. We could of course re sign Miller and Ray and that would really improve our depth. Of course it will not happen at current prices.

Another possibility is that Jamison and Butler both were going to be a problem if expected to come off the bench. I expect they both are of the opinion they are starters no matter what team they are on...Jamison seemed to have problem with this in Dallas a few years back when paired up with Antoine Walker.

Another possibility is that Danny has his sights set on a bigger target, but that is a smaller likelihood in this econmic climate.

Who really knows?

[ssspence]

Maybe the Wizards did not want to face Caron 4 times a year.

A separate question is why the Celtics didn't make an offer for Howard themselves.

Because his game has fallen off in a serious way, and they don't want him passing out joints in the locker room. Besides, what would they offer that compares with Butler & Hayward? You don't trade Ray for Josh Howard.

[ssspence]

They probably are interested in taking a look at Howard before deciding about whether to keep his contract. And the Cs probably wouldn't take Stevenson and maybe even Jamison.

My suspicion is that Danny spoke with them to drive up the price for others, most notably the Cavs on Jamison.

[greg_kite]

Now that Butler has been traded and apparently Stoudemire is headed to Cleveland, could Iguadala be Danny's target?  Danny doesn't want to do a deal that makes them worse this year, and I'm not sure Butler is better than Ray in the Celtics' offense.  Ray's shooting was a big part of it.  And Butler's defense isn't significantly better than Rays, so Danny might not see their chances of winning improving.  And getting Jamison would only improve depth.  With KG, Pierce, Perk and Sheed taking so much frontcourt minutes I don't see Jamison as much of an upgrade over any of those guys.

While Iguadala's shooting might not be as good as Rays he is still an excellent scorer and would be the perfect recipient for Rondo alley-oops.  And he is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.  He would certainly be a game changer.

The problem is why Philly would give him to us.  I'm not sure taking Dalembert's contract would be enough.  If not, would it be worth taking Brand's contract instead?

[PLamb]

Could it be that Danny is telling the truth

Maybe Danny never discussed Butler AND Jamison for Ray

Maybe the story was put out by people in Washington to force Dallas' hand in including Singleton and Ross in the package and to take on Stephenson, which they were reluctant to do

No one finds it coincidental that within 36 hours of that Celtics/Wizards rumor coming out that the Wizards consummated a deal with the Mavericks that included Butler and was expanded with players included in the trade that Washington wanted in the trade and Dallas didn't