Mavs/Wizards

[CeltsSteve@AOL.com]

Howard traded to Mavs in eight-player deal

By JOSEPH WHITE
.c The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) - Michael Jordan pulled off the improbable Thursday, trading 
a player believed to be untradable as he dealt Juwan Howard to the Dallas 
Mavericks in an eight-player trade. 

Howard and his salary cap-consuming contract were sent to the Mavs along with 
Calvin Booth and Obinna Ekezie for Christian Laettner, Courtney Alexander, 
Loy Vaught, Hubert Davis, Etan Thomas and $3 million. 

To make room on their roster, the Wizards released Gerard King, Mike Smith 
and Felipe Lopez and placed Rod Strickland on the injured list. 

``Michael Jordan has made a good deal for his team. He got a bunch of good 
guys and he's cut his payroll,'' Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. ``They gave 
us an opportunity to acquire a very fine player, and we took advantage of 
that.'' 


Jordan had been working frantically to trade one of the three veterans - 
Howard, Rod Strickland or Mitch Richmond - whose huge salaries and long-term 
contracts were paralyzing the Wizards' ability to acquire major free agents. 
Howard has two full seasons remaining on his contract and will earn about $40 
million over that span. 

``It's been a long couple of days,'' Jordan said. ``This deal actually 
happened in the last five or six hours. There were a lot of other things 
being considered.'' 

Jordan said the team should be close to getting under the cap at the end of 
this season - when the remainder of Strickland's contract will likely be 
bought out - and that the team will be in excellent shape to pursue free 
agents during the summer of 2002. 

Howard had been a disappointment and was routinely booed by the home crowd 
since signing a seven-year, $105 million contract in 1996. However, he 
recently stepped up his game and was a rare bright spot in a 13-41 season. He 
led the team in scoring with an average of 18.2 points and was second in 
rebounding with 7.0 per game. 

``He played well enough to create interest for himself,'' Jordan said. 

The deal also offers some vindication for Jordan, who has suffered through a 
tumultuous first year of managing a team that has been mediocre to bad for 
more than a decade. 

``We've still got a long ways to go. I'm pretty sure you guys are going to 
stay on (me) until we start winning,'' Jordan said. ``Right now, we've just 
made a step in the right direction. 

``Sure, everyone said Juwan was an untradeable situation, but you never 
know,'' Jordan said. 


Laettner is averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds, but he comes with a 
prickly reputation and likely won't figure into the Wizards plans when his 
contract expires at the end of the season. 

``Hopefully, he will come here with a positive attitude,'' said Jordan, 
trying to suppress a chuckle. 

Alexander, the 13th overall pick of the 2000 draft, is averaging 4.2 points 
and 1.7 rebounds. He and Thomas, who is out for the season with a toe injury, 
are the only two players in the trade who would appear to figure in the 
Wizards long-term plans. 

Booth has been a pleasant surprise with his gritty play this season and at 
one point displaced Jahidi White as a starter. He is averaging 4.5 points and 
4.3 rebounds in 22 starts. 

AP-NY-02-22-01 2015EST