Healthy Butler Has Big Goals for the Season

CHICAGO, Oct. 16 -- Caron Butler accomplished a personal goal last season when he was selected as a reserve to the Eastern Conference all-star team. It was a special honor for Butler, a lottery pick by the Miami Heat in the 2002 draft who was traded twice before finding a home in Washington. This season, Butler has much loftier goals in mind, and they're all about the team.

"I look at it like this: If we are one of the top teams in the East, that stuff is going to come naturally," said Butler, who had the night off for Tuesday's 97-76 preseason loss to the Chicago Bulls. "You only get the individual awards when the team does well. I know what I am, I'm an all-star caliber player, but I'm not going to put myself ahead of team goals. It's all about us getting this done as a team, and that's what I'm worried about."

Butler, whose career highs last season included scoring (19.1 points per game), rebounds (7.4), assists (3.7) and steals (2.1), said he showed up to training camp in Richmond in the best shape of his NBA career. Specifically, Butler worked on ballhandling, tweaked his jump shot so he can extend his range to the three-point line, where he is a career 30.3 percent shooter, and trimmed body fat with a strict diet.

"Right now, my game is the best it's ever been," Butler said.

Along with forward Antawn Jamison, Butler is one of the more respected leaders in the Wizards' locker room. He doesn't go out of his way to tell teammates what to do, but when he does raise his voice, people tend to listen.

This season, he has high hopes for third-year forward-center Andray Blatche and rookies Dominic McGuire and Nick Young and provided a template for how they should carry themselves with his effort during camp.

"We thought that he was the MVP of camp and not because he shot the ball well or those things but just his overall attitude, his personality, his leadership, his focus and his intensity," Coach Eddie Jordan said. "All of that was on cue. Caron speaks at the right time, and his voice commands attention. He won't say a whole lot, but if he thinks we're too loose, he'll say something, or if we're in the huddle, he'll say something. He's got that leadership in him."

Butler has three seasons remaining on the contract he signed in 2005 but is aware that the roster could undergo changes next summer. Gilbert Arenas plans to opt out of the final year of his contract, Jamison will be an unrestricted free agent, and the team should have a much better idea of what it has in Young, McGuire and rookie 7-footer Oleksiy Pecherov.

Young scored a preseason-high 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting Tuesday night, while Pecherov added 12 points and eight rebounds.

"With Gilbert and Antawn going into the last year of their contracts and this team still being together right now, the stakes are much higher," Butler said. "I look at it as a chance for us to make some history, to get to a championship. I feel that we are definitely capable but after this season, who knows what's going to happen? Change is the nature of this business, so we have to do it right now."

Wizards Notes: Tuesday night's loss was the first of the preseason for the Wizards (3-1), who will host Zalgiris Kaunas, a team from Lithuania, on Friday night at Verizon Center. . . . Blatche (14 points on 5-of-8 shooting) has scored in double figures in three of four preseason games. . . .

The Wizards finished with a preseason-high 22 turnovers and shot 32.3 percent, a preseason low. The team was 0 for 14 on three-pointers. . . . Along with Butler, guard DeShawn Stevenson also was given the night off. Roger Mason Jr. started in place of Stevenson and Mike Hall started for Butler. . . .

Jamison rolled his left ankle in the first quarter after coming down on the foot of a photographer who was sitting on the baseline. He did not return. . . . Single-game tickets for home games in November and December, including the Nov. 3 home opener against the Orlando Magic, are on sale. They are available for as low as $10 and can be purchased at Washingtonwizards.com or by calling 202-397-7328.