The NBA has sliced $4 million from the Washington Wizards' salary cap this year due to the suspensions of Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Javaris Crittenton(notes). So now the team only needs to get rid of $4 million or $5 million more to get under the salary cap, so it's looking more and more like the team is going to ditch Caron Butler(notes) before the Feb. 18 trading deadline, according to NBA.com.

The rumor is that the team has offers from the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets and will likely decide on one by week's end. However, the Wizards may want any team taking Butler to also take Mike James(notes) or DeShawn Stevenson(notes) in order to clear up some more cash.

The Wizards apparently want a younger player in the deal, which means the Mavs would need to include rookie guard Rod Beaubois. The Rockets have young guard Kyle Lowry(notes) and an expiring contract in forward Luis Scola(notes) to deal along with the massive $23 million expiring contract of Tracy McGrady(notes).

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Source: NBA.com

Can Carmelo make it nine straight? Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony(notes) still has a hurt ankle and, as of Monday afternoon, wasn't sure if he would be ready for tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks, according to the Denver Post.

It'll make nine straight games that Anthony misses if he sits out tonight with the sprained left ankle. If he doesn't play tonight, it seems clear that he'll be back on Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs.

"Hopefully I can get back out there tomorrow," Anthony told the Post. "It felt good out there today. It's getting better each day. Pretty much I was doing a lot that I could do before I got hurt."

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Source: Denver Post

Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard(notes) apparently thinks he's going to be traded before the Feb. 18 deadline, according to DallasBasketball.com.

The Mavs are saying it won't happen but folks who know Howard are supposedly saying he's headed to the Toronto Raptors or the Miami Heat. It's not like the Mavericks will miss him that much. He's having a horrendous year this year. (Maybe too much offseason pot smoking?)

Still, a lot of teams are apparently interested in Howard but don't likely have the pieces that the Mavericks would like in return. Mavs owner Mark Cuban and all his minions aren't happy with the team right now so a shakeup may be coming. Even if it's not Howard, it could be Drew Gooden(notes) or Erick Dampier(notes). Someone is likely to go.

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Source: DallasBasketball.com

The New York Knicks lost by 50 points to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, the worst home loss in the team's history, and now it looks like team president Donnie Walsh wants to shake things up a little, according to the New York Post.

It's always been clear this season that the Knicks are just biding time till the coming off-season when it can try to lure such folks as LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) to the Big Apple. But now Walsh is sick of waiting, it appears. The team is four games behind the Chicago Bulls for a playoff spot and Walsh would like to make it in this year.

The problem is that the Knicks won't want to take on any contracts that last past this summer so it will be difficult for the team to make any kind of deals.

Walsh may spend the next few weeks looking but don't expect him to find many folks who want his players right now. And you can pretty much bet the house that LeBron isn't joining the Knicks this summer.

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Source: New York Post

Gilbert Arenas(notes) is in the second year of a six-year, $111 million contract and not doing the Washington Wizards good while he's on an indefinite suspension for the little standoff that involved firearms in the locker room with teammate Javaris Crittenton(notes).

So the team will owe him $80.2 million after this season and it's looking like it might try to void the contract in order to get out of shelling out all the moulah. Voiding a contract is not an easy thing to do, particularly when talking about using the morals clause against a p layer.

But the Wizards have taken the likeness of Arenas down around the Verizon Center and the team hasn't offered up any support for the gunslinger. Some see this as possible foreshadowing to the Wiz trying to get out of its deal, according to the New York Times.

Two recent players who had their contracts voided were Vin Baker(notes) by the Boston Celtics in 2004 (though the two sides came to a settlement) and Roy Tarpley back in 1991 by the Dallas Mavericks for violating the drug policy.

"I don't think the team will have much problem proving that Arenas met the burden of falling short of good conduct," Gabriel Feldman, the director of the sports law program at Tulane told the Times.

But the Wall Street Journal is saying Arenas isn't expecting the team to void the contract. Arenas doesn't have an agent right now and so he sought out advice from his former agent, Dan Fegan, on what to do if the team tries to void the contract. They don't seem to think it'll happen.

Don't be so sure, Gilbert. Surely the Wizards would like to be spending that money on someone who isn't going to bring guns to the locker room.

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Source: New York TimesWall Street Journal