Even though he's going from one of the best teams in the NBA to a team that's been down for a long time, Antawn Jamison is very happy the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Washington Wizards.

"I can't stress how excited I am to be part of this organization," Jamison said.  

Jamison averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds last season, making him the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

Jamison will start this season.

"This is definitely the best situation so far in my career," he said.

Jamison thinks that a new winning tradition can be born in the nation's capital.

"We might have all the pieces here," said the Wizards' president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld.

In a monumental trade that could set up what many expect to be an intense period of player movement centered around NBA Draft 2004, the Washington Wizards traded Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and the number 5 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks for the Sixth Man of the Year, Antawn Jamison.  

The trade may be both a signal of the active off-season that is to come as well as a key catalyst that could have a direct impact on additional NBA player movement.  

That is to say, the Mavericks held out for the Wizards' first-round pick and may use the acquired Draft selection as bait for a bigger catch.  There is growing speculation that the Dallas brass is on the verge of putting together a package to acquire the NBA's most dominant center, Shaquille O'Neal.  

Jamison, 6'9", turned in 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a game off the Mavericks' bench this past season.  He will not only be a starter for the Wizards but could emerge as one of the leading forwards in the Eastern Conference.  The 225-pound Jamison will be re-united with former Golden State Warriors teammate Gilbert Arenas.

Regarding salaries and money:  Stackhouse, a former all-star, has three more years left on his contract, with remaining payouts of $22.5 million. Jamison will make $12.5 million next season with an option year to follow.

This is the first major trade of the new Wizards' front office led by president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld, and character determinations may have played a role in the deal. Indeed, there is much reason to believe that the Wizard brass had come to consider both Stackhouse and Laettner to be negative influences on the club.  

The trade also reflects the Wizards' reluctance to continue gambling on unproven talent.  Tonight's Draft will be particularly loaded with young players who have little or no college basketball experience.  "It's probably not a Draft that's going to produce a lot of impact players right away," Grunfeld recently told the media at the NBA's pre-Draft camp in Chicago.

"The Mavericks, according to league sources, have acquired the No. 5 overall pick in Thursday's draft from Washington as part of a package that features Antawn Jamison, the newly minted Sixth Man of the Year, as the prize catch for the Wizards.

ESPN's David Aldridge reports that the Wizards also will send Christian Laettner and Jerry Stackhouse to the Mavericks in the deal."

Sources say the Mavericks hope to use the No. 5 pick to sweeten the package they can offer the Lakers in exchange for the disgruntled O'Neal. It is also possible, sources say, that the Mavericks will pursue additional trades that include Laettner and/or Stackhouse.

Laettner makes a return to Dallas and Jamison joins former teammate Gilbert Arenas in Washington.

The Mavericks are trying to sweeten the package for Shaq because they are trying to do the deal without adding Dirk Nowitski. The package could inlcude the pick, Antoine Walker, Steve Nash, and Josh Howard.

If the Mavericks can't use the pick in a deal they might possibly select Pavel Podkolzine.

Juan Dixon, taken 17th in 2002, could be headed to Charlotte.  Considering contract, youth and ability, he may be one of the most appealing players on the board for the expansion draft tonight.

It is unconfirmed but a good bet that Dixon, Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and Lonny Baxter were the Wizards players left unprotected.    

The Wizards are focusing more on the rookie Draft.

"This is completely different from the draft," Grunfeld said of the expansion draft. "We just turned in our list and started to concentrate on the draft."

The Wizards' last three top Draft picks are Kwame Brown, Jared Jeffries and Jarvis Hayes.

So it?s no wonder that Wizards fans get a slightly trepidatious feeling when Draft day rolls around.

This year looks like Josh Childress of Stanford.  But the writer asks, isn?t a 6-7 shooter a good way to describe Jerry Stackhouse, Jarvis Hayes, and Larry Hughes, and not too far off of Gilbert Arenas?

How would Shaq look in a Wizards uniform?  Like he?s going to a costume party.  The Wizards don?t have the assets to bring him to Washington.

In the era of LeBron James, talented high school players get special attention from NBA scouts and lots of publicity from the community of basketball fans.

All of this tends to inflate expectations of how much these young men can accomplish early in their playing careers.  

But teams know that their development will take time.

"There are some very talented players in this year's Draft, but you'll have to wait for most of them to develop," Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld said. "A lot of players like Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal and Kevin Garnett have become stars, but it took time. Nobody stepped in besides LeBron James and had major influence out of high school."

While NBA executives understand the pitfalls of prematurely bringing young players into the pro game, these diamonds in the rough have a strong appeal to teams after the excellent success of several young guns.  Brimming with potential and possible futures bright enough to alter the course of a franchise, these prospects are a tempting proposition on Draft night.

"Most of us wish these players would go to college to get more seasoning and to mature emotionally and physically," Grunfeld said. "But it's hard to pass on a kid in the Draft."

According to the Washington Post the Chicago Bulls have approached the Wizards about swapping the third overall pick and a "lesser-salaried player" for the fifth overall pick and Jarvis Hayes, last year's 10th overall pick.

According to the Post the deal is unlikely to transpire as the Wizards do not plan on moving Hayes, yet an employee with the Bulls has been doing background checks on Hayes, according to a source of the Post based in Washington.

Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld said, "I don't comment on conjecture and rumor."

The official team lists of NBA players left unprotected and available in the expansion draft have been submitted.

Only the Lakers and Pistons have not submitted their roster of players who they will leave exposed for the draft.  The two NBA Finals participants will have 24 hours from the end of the championship round to do so.

NBA rules prohibit disclosure so the Bobcats could not comment on the players who will be available to them.  

Players making too much and/or not performing well enough are expected to fill the lists.

According to reports, the talents of Antoine Walker, Jerry Stackhouse and Allan Houston will be available for the Bobcats' taking.  But these players come with sizable contracts which may make them more of a burden than a key piece to the expansion team's future.

Reggie Miller, Damon Stoudamire and Dale Davis will reportedly be protected by their teams.  Based on age and contract, the protection of these players comes as something of a surprise.

The Washington Wizards will bring in forwards Josh Smith and Josh Childress and swingman Andre Iguodala.  Until now, the club has been looking at prospects not likely to be worth their number five overall pick.
   
"These are all guys that will project to be in the top 10," said Ernie Grunfeld, the Wizards? president of basketball operations.

Washington has looked at 36 players in preparation for the NBA Draft on June 24.

Many of the players they have looked at so far could be available at Washington?s other selection, the 32nd pick.

"That is a decent pick in what is a young draft," Grunfeld said. "If you look at it, there's a wide range there at the number two. We could be looking at a situation where the guy ranked 20th by one club is ranked 35th by another."

Duke forward Luol Deng is a player they would like to take with the No. 5 pick if he is still available.

Meanwhile, teams must submit their list of 8 expansion-draft-protected players by June 12.  Unrestricted free agents also can be placed on the list.  Sources say the Wizards are least likely to protect Juan Dixon, Christian Laettner and Jerry Stackhouse.