Washington
Dallas barely held on to Christian Laettner after acquiring him in the deal that brought Antawn Jamison to the Wizards just before the draft. His 60 day moratorium on trades expires this week and it looks as if Dallas will be shipping him out immediately in a deal to land Erick Dampier.
Jerry Stackhouse has survived this particular cut though it's not clear how much a part of their future he is. On the other hand, his offense-first approach would not be in direct contradiction to Dallas's preferred style of play. Laettner, on the other hand, while a member of the original Dream Team in 1992, is getting old and his main value is probably his expiring contract.
The silver lining is that Dampier will not be signing with Atlanta, meaning that Brendan Haywood, Etan Thomas, and Kwame Brown have nothing to fear about a potential double-double center in their division... except, of course, Shaquille O'Neal.
TEAM NOTES
The Washington Wizards have released their complete 2004-2005 regular season schedule.
You can shop at the Wizards team storewhere you can personalized jerseys with your name and number.
Eddie Sefko ofThe Dallas Morning News writes: Erick Dampier, the last remaining marquee free agent on this summer's market, apparently has agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that would ship him from the Warriors, along with Evan Eschmeyer and Dan Dickau, according to several league sources. Eduardo Najera, whose work ethic and energy have made him a beloved figure in four seasons with the Mavericks, will be headed to the Warriors, along with Christian Laettner, two future first-round draft choices and cash. One of the future firsts was acquired from Atlanta in the Antoine Walker trade. The complicated deal cannot be completed until at least Tuesday -- 60 days after Laettner was acquired in a draft-night trade with Washington. NBA rules prohibit a player from being traded more than once in a two-month window. Dickau also was traded earlier this summer... Laettner went to Dallas in June when he was traded along with Jerry Stackhouse and a No. 5 draft pick by Washington for Antawn Jamison.Laettner, 6-11, appeared in 48 games for the Wizards in 2003-04, averaging 20.5 minutes, 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.