<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Nobody should be surprised Caron Butler will be traded to the Washington Wizards. Once the NBA lifts its moratorium on free-agent signings and trades, which should be early next week, the Los Angeles Lakers will send Butler and point guard Chucky Atkins to the Wizards for Kwame Brown. The trade makes sense for two reasons: n Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld has always been a fan of Butler's game. Even when Grunfeld was the Bucks' general manager , he professed a fondness for the former Park High School star's hard-nose play, versatility and unselfishness. Butler should nicely plug the hole created by Wizards free-agent shooting guard Larry Hughes, who will sign with Cleveland. The Lakers are desperate for a big man. Center Chris Mihm is soft and Lamar Odom, while talented and versatile, is more of a natural small forward than power forward and has a hefty and almost impossible contract to move. The only other desirable player on the Lakers' roster is Kobe Bryant and the Lakers aren't about to move their marquee player. Lakers in a slumber You've got to wonder where the Lakers, one of the most successful and proud franchises in sports history, are going. Yeah, they brought back Phil Jackson as coach and that was a coup. But the Lakers also drafted Andrew Bynum, a young raw center with their first pick, and acquiring Brown is a major gamble. While the latter has oodles of talent, he has a many personal issues that the Wizards simply didn't want to deal with anymore. Of course, one had to truly question the Lakers' commitment to excellence last summer when they dealt Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for, among other players, Butler. Raymond Brothers, Butler's agent, said he was boggled by the Lakers' moves. Asked if there could be any possible glitch in the forthcoming Wizards-Lakers transaction involving Butler, Brothers quipped, "Only if the Lakers wake up. They've been sleeping ever since they traded Shaq.'' Scales plugging away You have to admire Alex Scales` persistence. The former Racine Lutheran High School star is still pursuing his dream to play in the NBA. After completing his college eligibility at Oregon in 2000, the 6-foot-3 swing guard has tried out with several NBA teams and, on a couple of occasions, came within a whisker of attaining his goal. During the last two weeks, Scales played on the Seattle SuperSonics' summer league team in Salt Lake City, And he played well. He led the Sonics in scoring and, in a game against Dallas, totaled a team-high 19 points. On the surface at least, Scales will have a difficult time making the Sonics' roster. However, shooting guard Ronald Murray, a former Buck, is a restricted free agent and is being courted by several teams. If Murray leaves Seattle, Scales' chances of being signed by Seattle would be significantly bolstered. The Sonics' summer league team, by the way, was coached by former Bucks center Jack Sikma.</div> Source I found the part in bold interesting. So far the Lakers have had a tough time selling this trade to the fans. Caron Butler was a media and fan favorite, and trading him for Kwame Brown's unpredictable track record has raised a lot of eyebrows. All eyes are going to be on Kwame from Day 1 in the pre-season. I hope he can silence some of the critics (myself included) and show some intensity on the court. I don't care about the stats he puts up early on, but I do want to see him working hard on defense and doing the little things to help out the team. Diving for loose balls, communicating on defense, and fighting for position.
either Brown will collaspe under pressure or he will shape up and be the prodigy he was supposed to be 5 years ago.
In 2-3 years, Laker fans will be kicking themselves in the ass for questioning this trade and Washington fans will be kicking themselves in the ass for loving this trade (I'll be doing both, I get double the ass kicking). Kwame will explode here, trust me on this one. Caron will be great in Washington, but he won't be an all-star.
People tend to forget that Kwame is still only 23. Bogut is 22 but he doesn't have 4 years under his belt like Kwame did at that age. It's almost like a fresh draft pick. Perhaps with a team like L.A. (with a large following) he'll be properly motivated as opposed to playing for Washington whose fans regularly booed him.
