The Wizards Constantly Thank Dallas For Their Generosity

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

At the end of the 2003-2004 season, the Wizards traded two aging players and a first round pick to the Dallas Mavericks for a player who was just entering the prime of his career.

The aging players sent packing were Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner, and the first round pick became Devin Harris. None of which are with the Mavericks anymore.

The Wizards landed Antawn Jamison in the deal.

Since his arrival in Washington, Jamison has been one of the most consistent scorers and rebounders for the Wizards. The impact of his presence is noted by the Wizards' immediate rise from an average team to a playoff franchise.

Jamison's first year with the Wizards marked the first year that Washington had reached the playoffs since ditching the Bullets moniker.

The resurgence in Washington is due to much more than Jamison coming to town, but without him it wouldn't have been so meteoric. Gilbert Arenas was coming into his own as a scorer, and the Wizards had just enough role players to put them in the playoff hunt during the 2004 season.

The original "Big Three" for the Wizards was Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Jamison. They were the highest scoring trio in the NBA for the 2004 season, the first playoff appearance since 1996.

Larry Hughes parted ways with the team and landed in Cleveland. In his place, the Wizards installed Caron Butler, who had come to Washington from LA in a deal that sent perennial bust Kwame Brown packing. The new "Big Three" is born.

It is hard to overlook the impact that Butler's emergence has had on the Wizards, but Jamison has had a hand in that as well.

Jamison was a veteran by the time Butler reached Washington and provided a consistent scorer from the power forward position for Butler's play at small forward to flourish.

The Wizards play their season opener against a Mavericks team that made it to the Western Conference semifinals, where they lost in five games to the Denver Nuggets. The Mavericks enter the game at a distinct advantage since Jamison is out for the next three to five weeks with a shoulder injury.

Jamison is 33 years old and it has been said that he is bound to enter the twilight of his career in the next few years. Hopefully the injury sustained in the preseason isn't a precursor to a rapidly decline in his abilities.

While Jamison is out for the season opener, the Wizards are optimistic for the future and have only the Mavericks to thank for the wealth of talent that Jamison embodies.

Even though he has recently been hit by the injury bug, Jamison has never failed to produce when the Wizards needed him most. For the next few weeks, the Wizards will be without their veteran star.

In his absence, the Wizards will depend on the youth of Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire to fill the void. While unproven, either of those young players is perfectly capable of keeping Jamsion's spot warm for when he returns in late November.

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