The Washington Wizards fire sale that everyone saw coming went off perfectly. The team’s entire classic starting lineup, as I’ll arbitrarily call it, is gone. Aside from the suspended Gilbert Arenas, who will probably never play another game for the Wizards, all have been moved within the last few days.

The main headline this past week had Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson headed to Dallas for Josh Howard and a pile of spare parts. Almost as important was the trade that sent Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers for the expiring contract of Zydrunas Ilgauskas (but not Ilgauskas himself) and brought in the Clippers’ Al Thornton. Washington has altered its roster drastically, and necessarily, regardless of if the return for those four players was sufficient. The Wizards have also changed the scenery of the league’s highest echelon in the process.

League-wide implications of these trades number in the dozens, whether because Andrew Bynum will have a Maverick giant waiting for him in the paint or because Boston’s pesky defence will have another Cavalier scoring forward to keep in mind. The more direct implications are fewer, but each carries a season-altering load. All told, four teams saw their fortunes change because of Washington’s rush to dissolve a roster that, months ago, held much more playoff promise than it does today.

Contending in Dallas
Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson

The biggest winner of the Washington sweepstakes, and possibly of the trading deadline in general, is the Dallas Mavericks. Having gone 2-5 into the All-Star break with an injured Erick Dampier and still clearly behind the second-in-the-West Denver Nuggets, not to mention starting a point guard who’s almost 37, the Mavericks had to make a move if they wanted to stay in Finals contention. (Or according to many, to get into it.)

Caron Butler is the biggest name the Mavericks acquired, and the crux of the deal was essentially a Howard for Butler swap. Rumours of Howard falling out of favor in Dallas have circulated for at least two years, and while he’s a valuable player, Butler is superior in almost every way. Butler gives the Mavericks additional size (he’s a big wing at 6’7” and anywhere from 225 to 240 pounds depending on the time of year), passing and rebounding.

Butler’s ability to get teammates involved in the offense is the most immediately evident part of his game that will help the Mavericks. While Kidd has had a great season, being able to rest him more often in advance of the playoffs will allow for worry-free spells of Jason Terry at point guard. With Butler on the floor, the Mavericks can mask Terry’s spotty point guard skills by having Butler direct the offense for short stretches; the added attention on Butler should also free up Terry for open threes.

Haywood’s impact will be enormous. Dampier was falling apart at the best of times, and now, at age 35, he’s just about ready for retirement. The Mavericks needed a successor desperately and Haywood is their man. Mark Cuban’s comments, reported by ESPN’s Tim McMahon, that "Centers come into their own right around 29, 30 years old. That's where he is now... Hopefully, he'll be a long-term piece for us" speak volumes about Dallas’s expectations for Haywood. He’ll bring career highs of over ten rebounds and two blocked shots per game to a Dallas team that needs them.

Most importantly, Dallas is set to leapfrog Denver in challenging the Lakers for the title of best team in the West. Butler and Haywood are both helpful in the team’s potential second-round playoff matchups, as well as against any Eastern team the Mavericks could encounter if they advance to the Finals. Butler’s combination of strength and speed makes him a great candidate to defend Carmelo Anthony (over 29 points per game), Kobe Bryant (who has burnt the Mavericks for 62 points in three quarters before), LeBron James (who leads the league in scoring) and Paul Pierce. If the Mavericks are serious about making a championship run, they will almost certainly find themselves matched up against either Anthony’s Nuggets or Bryant’s Lakers at some point, and possibly both in a row.

Haywood’s presence will be equally valuable against big-name big men like Nene, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. If the Mavericks reach the Finals, he could also match up against Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (assuming he returns to Cleveland), Dwight Howard or Kendrick Perkins. Haywood should provide the same kind of boost that Dampier did a few years ago, and likely with better free throw shooting and a better attitude to boot.

Gearing Up in Cleveland
Zydrunas Ilgauskas’s contract for Antawn Jamison

Jamison is a solid addition to Cleveland’s frontcourt. He’s 33, but his style of play relies so little on athleticism that his complete lack of a tangible decline (rebound rate has gone from 15.4 to 13.7 to 12.9 this season, but still ahead of where he was in Golden State, Dallas and initial Washington season, for example) should continue. He is signed until 2012, with a total of $29 million remaining on his contract after this season, but Cleveland should be able to expect the same kind of output he always delivers. His numbers might decrease from their twenty and almost-nine levels with the ball in LeBron James’s hands so often, but that should give Jamison more chances to get open opportunities.

I will be stunned if Ilguaskas plays a game in Washington. In all likelihood, he will be bought out soon, and then he will almost surely re-sign with Cleveland in 30 days. That month will be a good time to Ilgauskas to rest his aching body, which the first-place Cavaliers will need far more in the playoffs than they do now. In this sense, Cleveland has acquired Jamison for free. No actual talent is departing from the Cavaliers’ roster, with the exception of if they cut someone when bringing back Ilgauskas.

Thinning the Ranks in Los Angeles
Al Thornton for Drew Gooden

When the Mavericks signed Drew Gooden to a mid-level contract this past summer, they only guaranteed about half of the money. This shrewd maneuver was hailed as a way for the Mavericks to either trade Gooden by the beginning of January to a team seeking cap relief, or to retain Gooden and pay him approximately $4.6 million dollars, a reasonable amount for a backup big man.

The prognostications of a Gooden deal came true – aside from the Butler/Howard swap, it was really Gooden for Haywood that allowed the Mavericks/Wizards trade to happen. The Wizards were then able to convert Gooden’s expiring contract into a young talent in Al Thornton, who is still on his rookie contract. Thornton has averaged double-figure points every season of his career and is currently averaging a career-high .478 from the field.

Notice that I haven’t mentioned the Clippers yet. Their rationale is rather simple, if a little ruthless. The team obviously doesn’t have much faith in Thornton, as the trade is a straight contract dump. Thornton is on the books for next year and Gooden isn’t. The Clippers will now have under $34 million committed to 2010-11 salaries, which should open up around $20 million in cap room this summer – more than enough to land any of the star free agents. Furthermore, Gooden will be amicable to a buyout, saving additional funds while Gooden scouts out a contender.

I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss a player of Thornton’s at least moderate skill, especially considering his salary ($2.81 million next season) and age (26). Cheap, young scorers with 6’8” size aren’t all that common, so having one locked up through 2011 for roughly half of the league average salary appears to be a good deal. That said, if the Clippers land their star in free agency, Thornton could be long forgotten in Los Angeles by opening tip-off in October.

Imploding in Washington
Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison and DeShawn Stevenson for Josh Howard, Al Thornton, Zydrunas Ilgauskas’s contract, James Singleton and Quinton Ross

A week ago, this Wizards team had a lot of talent. That much could be said about any of the Wizards teams since the arrivals of Jamison in 2004 and Butler in 2005, though, and the team had still not reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Spending its second straight season out of playoff contention, and in the wake of Arenas’s unceremonious purging, there was no other option for this team. Jamison is 33, Haywood is 30 and expiring, Butler turns 30 later this year and none appears particularly downcast about leaving Washington. (Contrarily, Haywood seems thrilled.)

The return for such a large body of talent is skimpy, but Howard and Thornton provide something. Although they are both nominal small forwards, they provide different skill sets, with Howard’s defense and quickness pairing at least satisfactorily with Thornton’s bulk and shooting. The key is that Washington will only be sitting at about $41 million in committed salaries next season ($25 million if Arenas’s contract is voided), allowing the team to pursue whichever free agents will want to play there.

As these four teams continue to play out their home stretches, the ramifications of Washington’s relentless unloading should become evident. The ability of Butler, Haywood and Stevenson to mesh with Dallas’s pre-existing lineup of Kidd, Terry, Dampier, Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion could determine whether the Mavericks can outplay the Nuggets in a seven-game series. Jamison could prove to be a nuisance against Rashard Lewis or could force Kevin Garnett or Josh Smith to defend too far from the hoop. The Clippers could feel a void at Thornton’s spot in the rotation, resulting in a higher draft pick. The Wizards could land a couple good free agents this summer and begin their roster anew.

The Wizards had sunk time into crafting that starting lineup since draft day 2001. A few phone calls erased almost everything. Now all that’s left is an acrimonious split with Arenas and a few bags of popcorn for the upcoming Cavaliers and Mavericks playoff games.

Matthew Gordon can be reached at matthewpmgordon@gmail.com