The Mavericks have signed 24-year old shooting guard Von Wafer to a 10-day contract. Wafer played in 63 games (11 starts) for the Rockets last season and he averaged 19.4 minutes, 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has now played in 109 games (11 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 13.3 minutes, 6.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Mavericks were lucky to find a quality player like Wafer to help them off the bench.

The Dallas Mavericks have traded 29-year old SG/SF Josh Howard, 28-year old PF/C Drew Gooden, 28-year old SG/SF Quinton Ross and 28-year old PF James Singleton to the Wizards for 29-year old small forward Caron Butler, 30-year old center Brendan Haywood and 28-year old shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson. Butler will move right into the starting lineup at small forward for the Mavericks. He played in 47 games (all starts) with the Wizards this season and he averaged 39.4 minutes, 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Butler has now played in 533 games (500 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 16.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Butler will give them a good lift on both sides of the court. Brendan Haywood will bump Erick Dampier to the bench. He has played in 49 games (48 starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 32.9 minutes, 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. He is playing the best basketball of his career right now and he will give the Mavericks a presence under the basket at both ends of the court. Haywood has played in 579 games (450 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.5 minutes, 7.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. DeShawn Stevenson was a throw in that the Mavericks will have little use for. He played in 40 games (13 starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 15.4 minutes, 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. His shooting (28.2% from the floor) has been really pathetic this season. Stevenson has now played in 621 games (422 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.9 minutes, 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

The Mavericks won’t miss any of the guys they traded as they replaced them with better players. Josh Howard is the best player the Mavericks traded but he has been gimpy this season. Howard has played in 31 games (9 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he is averaging 26.7 minutes, 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Drew Gooden was a solid backup PF/C for the Mavericks. He played in 46 games (11 starts) for the the Mavericks this season and he was averaging 22.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Quinton Ross wasn’t doing much for the Mavericks this season. He played in 27 games (7 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he was averaging 11.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. James Singleton also wasn’t making much of a impact for the Mavs this season. He played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he averaged 8.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists.

This was a great trade for the Mavericks and it will put pressure on the powers in the Western Conference to counter it.

The Mavericks have acquired 33-year old forward Eduardo Najera from the Nets for 24-year old forward Kris Humphries and 23-year old small forward Shawne Williams. Najera played in 13 games (2 starts) for the Nets this season and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He has now played in 533 games (82 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Najera is back to where he started his NBA career as he played for the Mavericks from 2000-2004. Kris Humphries played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Mavericks’ coaches were upset with Humphries who sometimes runs the wrong plays. Shawne Williams has not played in any games this season for the Mavericks. Last year he played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks in which he averaged 11.3 minutes, 2.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game on only 28.6% shooting from the floor. The Mavericks are really happy with this trade as it gets rid of a couple of problems while bringing in a player they have always liked.

The Dallas Mavericks have released veteran center Jake Voskuhl. I’ll admit I was a tad surprised when Voskuhl accepted a training camp invite from a team that was so loaded in the frontcourt. He had to know that he wasn’t going to make the team unless the Mavericks suffered some injuries. Voskuhl will likely hook on with another team this season but the Mavericks won’t miss him due to the depth they already have at the positions that he plays.

The Mavericks have traded 23-year old center Nathan Jawai to the Timberwolves for a future 2nd round pick in the NBA Draft. Jawai was going to play in the D-League for the Mavericks this season as he was buried on the depth chart. This was a good move for everyone involved as a 2nd round pick might be more valuable than Jawai. It gives Jawai a chance to play in the NBA and show what he can do as the T-Wovles have a lot of injuries in the frontcourt.