Marc Stein (via Twitter):

Mavs and Wizards have completed their trade call with the league office. Deal will be announced later tonight. Seven-player swap in the end

DAL gets Butler, Haywood and Stevenson as was always the case once teams agreed Friday. WASH gets Josh Howard, Gooden, Q. Ross and Singleton

Marc Spears (via Twitter):

Washington trade of Butler, Haywood and Stevenson to Dallas for Howard, Gooden, Ross and Singleton recently became official, source tells Y!

Considering the Wizards were reported to be wanting Batum and Rudy just for Haywood, it was probably unrealistic Portland would have gotten a good price considering the talent in Howard that Washington got in return. Dallas obviously wins on the talent side of the deal, but this seems like it must be the first half of a move to get rid of Antawn Jamison as well, clear contracts and start all over.

UPDATE: Here’s the full story from Stein. And Kelly Dwyer’s reaction over at Ball Don’t Lie:

Butler can play. He’s had a rough 2009-10, getting used to Flip Saunders’ exacting offense, but the former Heat, Laker, and Wizard has long shown all-around gifts that can fit in alongside dominant players, and dominant personalities. Though his production has declined this season and he turns 30 a month from today, the hope is that Butler can be a clear upgrade from Josh Howard, who was struggling through a decisively subpar season this year.

There’s a bigger element to this trade, however, both in literal and figurative terms. Brendan Haywood has long been criticized for inconsistent play, but at 7-feet tall and in the prime of his career, Haywood is still a starting-quality center that can really turn these Mavericks around. Pared with an all-world playmaker in Jason Kidd, I think you’ll see Haywood surprise a lot of people.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, we’re not talking about the country line dance, we’re talking about back-to-back road games in the state of Texas. It starts tonight in Dallas against the Mavericks and ends tomorrow in San Antonio. It remains one of the tougher road trips in the NBA considering how good the Texas teams have been this decade. Blazer fans need to pray for a split as that would mean they would come home from this rough road trip at 2-2, no worse than when they left the Rose City. A win tonight would be perfect. But if you’re a person who likes numbers, it is not pointing towards anything good going down in the American Airlines Center. Check this out:

Dallas has beat Portland in 19 of the last 21 matchups period. In Dallas, Portland has lost 17 of the last 19, including 11 in a row. The Blazers last victory in Dallas came on January 26th 2003 when Bonzi Wells dropped 18 and 14 and Jeff McInnis and Antonio Daniels were not (complete)jokes. Yeah…it’s been awhile.

The encouraging (if there is one) part about this stretch of tough games while injury depleted is that we’re being tested and we should be growing. Against these teams you have to play physical, smart, complete basketball. And for the most part even against elevated talent the Blazers have found themselves in winnable battles.

Tonight they face a Dallas team who is quite content to use Portland’s fall as a reason to jump back into the Elite of the Western Conference. Dallas has won 15 of their last 20 games which tells you they are playing basketball at a pretty high level. You know this Mavs team. And you know that they are chock full of Blazer-Killers. Everytime Dallas plays Portland it’s like they get on stage and say “6 million ways to die, choose one”. Dirk Nowitzki has found ways to abuse the Blazers time after time for years now. He’s averaging 26 points a game, shooting 47 percent and has no teeth in his elbow anymore so he should be good to go. I’m concerned as to who is going to guard him. Is LaMarcus ready for the challenge?? Juwan Howard?? Killer number two on my list…Jason Terry. The man with the headband scares me. He always seems to hit a clutch shot against Portland, whether its to bring the Mavs back, push them ahead or break our backs. You and I both know it. The Jet is averaging 16 off the bench, you know he is going to put shots up. It stings twice as much when he makes the shots because as soon as he let’s them go I know they are going in. Damn. Jason Kidd has quietly shut all the people up who said he was washed up and has found a way to re-invent himself…as a three-point shooter. Yes. He’s shooting 41 percent from behind the arc and averaging 9.3 assists a game. He’s still got it. Josh Howard has returned, Shawn Marion is effective and Erick Dampier is in a contract year. You can see why the Mavs scare me a bit.

For Portland, they are obviously going to need a great effort on both ends of the floor. If they can get great and efficient efforts from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge they have a shot. If they can get Martell Webster and Steve Blake to make shots they have a shot. But they either need great efforts from their superstars or some sort of balanced effort to keep up.

Keys to the Game

-Energy and Effort. Portland needs this. Dallas isn’t a particularly great defensive team and is a team that can come out flat. A great first quarter will send a message and make life easier.

-All eyes on you LaMarcus. You’ve got a tall task on your shoulders tonight, but you’re in Texas so I’ve got confidence. You’ve got to find a way to elevate your game to All-Star status. I firmly believe we’re only going as far as LMA takes us. Not only that but he’s going to have to guard Dirk which is no simple task.

-Beware of their second unit: Terry and Barea lead the way of a second unit that can change the pace. Portland has to be careful of these two.

-Guard the three-point shot. I’m pretty sure we just gave up 7 threes to Quentin Richardson, so I’m a little concerned here.

WEST:

• Lakers vs. Rockets: Do I have to pick a winner? Can both teams lose? Sheesh. This is kind of a weird series here if you’re a Blazer fan (at least I think so). On one hand, it’s unacceptable to root for the Lakers. You can’t be a Laker and a Blazer fan and if you live in Portland and support the Lakers you deserve an elbow-drop from the top rope. I can’t even think of a scenario of when I would root for the Lakers. Seriously, I’ve thought of it a million times. Even when they were pummeling the Jazz, everytime I’d come close to enjoying it I’d see Vujacic’s hair, a Bynum sneer or that disgusting Laker swag and was right back to being PO’ed. On the other side are the Rockets. Generally speaking, you usually don’t want to see the team that just beat you advance. Because…ya know…you just spent 6 or so games hating them. I don’t have that deep, “Gosh I want to see the Rockets go down” type hatred but I wouldn’t mind seeing them go down. But I can’t root for either team. Ranting aside, I have to go with the Lakers here. LA has that offensive firepower and offensive balance to beat the Rockets, something Portland never fully grasped the concept of. Had we been able to, we’d be chanting Beat L-A right about now. And it is for that reason that I think the Lakers pull this one out. Artest will more than likely get caught up in trying to stop a motivated Kobe. Brooks won’t be able to get in to the lane against the Lakers trees. And Yao, can only do so much. Lakers in 5.
• Nuggets vs. Mavericks: Anyone else think it’s kind of weird one of these teams are going to the WCF? This is a series that could go either way, and a series that I think we’ll be more entertaining than it will get credit for. Both teams are facing contrasts from the teams they sent packing in the first round. Dallas has to deal with a balanced and explosive offense after beating the aging Parker & Duncan Show featuring no one else. Denver will also have to deal with a team who has multiple scoring options instead of The Chris Paul Show featuring no one else, seriously get that man some help before he kills someone. Chauncey Billups vs. Jason Kidd. Carmelo Anthony vs. Josh Howard. Dirk vs…umm….the Birdman? Jason Terry vs. JR Smith. A lot of intriguing matchups in this one. I honestly believe this series is going to 7 games and could go either way. I’m going to have to go with Dallas though. I think Carmelo Anthony can be taken away in the post-season and I feel like Dallas has too many weapons for Denver to deal with. Maybe it’s my respect for San Antonio and even though they were only a two-man show, they have always been good defensively. I don’t put Denver in San Antonio’s class defensively. I see the Mavs stealing one in Denver. Dallas in 6.

EAST:

• Cleveland vs. Atlanta/Miami: The Hawks are up by 13 at half so I’m assuming they will win, robbing the world of LeBron vs. D-Wade. Either way my pick was going to be the same. Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland. The Cavs are entirely too good at home for Atlanta to dream of taking one in the Q. And the Cavs are the opposite of the Heat. It’s not just a one-man show. It’s LeBron with his supporting cast and I’m not sure Atlanta has what it takes to slow them down. Also, unless the Hawks can run they will have trouble scoring in the half-court on Cleveland’s D. Too much LeBron, not enough Joe Johnson. Cavs in 5.
• Celtics vs. Magic: The absence of Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe is really about to be felt in this series. The Magic are also going to miss Courtney Lee a ton. JJ Redick is going to have to play big minutes and who on the Celtics can he guard? Certainly not Ray Allen. The big question in my books, is does Boston have enough in the tank to outlast Orlando? They are without key parts, they just had to out-last the Bulls, is there enough in the tank to fight off Orlando? Working in their favor is the fact that the Magic love to shoot jumpers. Working against them is the fact that they are the opposite of Philadelphia: proficient in the half-court, not running out. Also….Dwight Howard. They have no answer for him. I think it all comes down to Boston’s offense. If they can score enough points, they can beat the Magic. And since they are the defending champs, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Orlando is too streaky, too perimeter oriented and most importantly too tight for me to give them this one. In clutch situations, Boston knows what to do. I smell Orlando panicking. They did drop 2 to Philadelphia after all. Boston in 6.