http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=tradetalk-090205 I've heard multiple rumblings in the past month that Washington has made rugged forward Caron Butler available. But our research disputes that. Teams are certainly inquiring about Butler, but sources with knowledge of the Wizards' thinking insist that it's a misstatement to say that they're shopping him. You'd figure that a team mired at 10-39 would consider moving anyone on its roster. The Wiz, though, are telling teams that they'd expect a lot in return for Butler, believing that they're poised for a jump back up the standings by keeping him and adding a high draft pick along with a new coach next season. Such a stance obviously assumes that Gilbert Arenas can make something close to a full recovery from his three knee surgeries in an 18-month span. The Wiz contend that their situation is not nearly as bleak as it appears looking at their record because they already know that they're going to be adding so much next season, but let's be blunt: How Arenas rebounds is bigger than anything else. 4. Portland is naturally making calls to see what it can fetch with its LaFrentz chip, but it appears that there's a much better chance that Kings swingman John Salmons will wind up with the Blazers -- who have inquired about Salmons -- than that Chicago's Luol Deng will. Deng is said to be one of Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard's all-time favorites, but sources say Deng's strong play over the past month-plus after a slow start makes him the closest thing to prized rookie Derrick Rose on Chicago's list of untouchables. (It's also true that dealing Deng before the summertime, even if Chicago wanted to, is difficult because of base-year-compensation restrictions.) Gooden, Larry Hughes, maybe Thabo Sefolosha … those are the players Chicago is looking to move. It appears that, in the Bulls' view, Noah, Thomas and Kirk Hinrich -- whose presence since returning from a thumb injury has noticeably helped Rose -- are more valuable than they were when the season started. And let's face it: Chicago just isn't a trigger-pulling team, whether that's because of general manager John Paxson's reluctance or Reinsdorf's. Or both. Trade scenarios involving Deng, Ben Gordon, Hinrich … we've been hearing them for years. The Bulls might have the pieces to get into the Stoudemire bidding and would certainly appeal to the Suns as a trading partner because they're in the East, but history says they won't.
