Washington Wizards: Ranking The Top 5 Small Forwards In Recent Franchise History
By Ben Mehic
1) Caron Butler
Although Gilbert Arenas was perhaps the most well-known Washington Wizards player from the early 2000’s era, everyone knew that Caron Butler was definitely the heart and soul of the team.
Butler was a hard-nosed player whose style rubbed off on everyone else, including the Wizards players and fans.
Tuff Juice always played hard and fit right in with the type of player that D.C. sports fans loved.
Butler was a multi-talented player on offense that could hit the three, could back down in the post, and could outrebound most wings in the league.
On the defensive end, he would always defend the other team’s best wing player and usually would shut them down.
With Butler on the Wizards, other teams knew they were in for a tough game and the Wizards weren’t going back down…because Butler wouldn’t let them. While only playing with the Wizards for five seasons, Butler comes in as the Wizards’ number one small forward in recent team history.
After stints with the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, Butler came over to the Wizards in the Kwame Brown and Laron Profit trade.
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Butler immediately fit in with Arenas and Antawn Jamison to form a trio that would lead the Wizards to some of the most successful and fun seasons in franchise history.
I remember watching a Wizards game during that era and thinking, “wow, Butler may not be the best in the league at one particular skill, but he’s pretty damn good at everything.”
As a matter of fact, some of the lineups that the Wizards used with Butler in this era would probably be effective in today’s NBA.
Butler had a good three point shot, he used his size to his advantage to post up smaller wings, and could handle the ball well. While Butler officially played the small forward position in the lineup, Butler often would lead the Wizards in rebounds and assists.
On some nights, it was almost like Butler didn’t have a position.
During his time with the Wizards, Butler went on to make two All-Star teams (and had to sit out the game due to an injury in 2008).
As good as those Wizards teams were, they unfortunately went head-to-head with one of the best players in NBA history in LeBron James in a few of the classic playoff matchups.
Watching the Wizards featuring Butler with Arenas and Jamison, you always felt that if the team didn’t get disbanded due to “Gun Gate,” they could have made a real run or two at the Eastern Conference title.
While Butler’s basketball game was hard-nosed and no-nonsense, he always had some interesting quirks about himself that stuck out in our minds.
For example: Butler loves chewing on drinking straws so much that he would often play whole games (!!!) with one in his cheek.
Once the league found out about it, they banned him from doing that again.
It’s no secret that D.C. sports love to root for underdogs, and in some ways, that’s what Butler was.
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Butler is now in his 14th season in the NBA and looks to catch on with a team for this upcoming season. While the Wizards have had plenty of talented small forwards in franchise history, Caron Butler will always be remembered with fond memories and stories of how Tuff Juice helped make the Wizards teams of the mid 2000’s one of the funnest to watch.