Caron Butler: '(The Wizards) Can Compete for a Title'

Caron Butler's last four seasons have mirrored those of his team, the Washington Wizards -- on the cusp of excellence, but never quite getting there and held back by an aggravating string of injuries.

The 6-foot-7 forward has made the All-Star team the last two years and averaged more than 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in those seasons, a feat matched only by LeBron James. And while colorful, explosive-scoring teammate Gilbert Arenas has been the face of the Wizards, Butler (nicknamed "Tough Juice'') has been the heart. But the Wizards got knocked out in the first round in each of his first three seasons by James' Cleveland Cavaliers every time. Last year, wracked by injuries, the Wizards changed coaches, bottomed out at 19-63 and changed coaches again.

Now, the 29-year-old Butler feels inspired enough to claim, as have Flip Saunders and many of his teammates, that the Wizards will make the leap to serious Finals contender. Part of this inspiration -- as he points out in this FanHouse Q&A after his team's 101-92 win over Memphis in its preseason opener in Richmond, Va. -- comes from the real face of the franchise dating back to its Baltimore days, Hall of Famer Wes Unseld.

FanHouse: Thanks to Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood missing virtually all of last season, it's been a long time since this entire unit has played together. How has it gone in training camp and in the first preseason game?

Butler: I thought it was great. The team continuity came together great over the course of the last week being around each other in Richmond. We did a great job of attacking and protecting the paint for the most part -- we had a little bit of a defensive letdown at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second, but we picked up the energy after that.

FanHouse: You and so many of the other key players have been injured the last two years. Is it a relief to not have that this time around?

Butler: It's been a while, and obviously, it's a great feeling to see everybody healthy and to have all our soldiers back -- myself, Gilbert, Brendan, Antawn (Jamison), DeShawn (Stevenson), everybody. It was great to have us all together again and to have the young guys back and playing good basketball. It really meant a lot.

FanHouse: You're playing for Flip Saunders for the first time, instead of Eddie Jordan for nearly all of your Wizards career. How has that been?

Butler: It was different, obviously. We praise Coach Jordan for the years that we had. They were great years, a tremendous ride. But now it's a new voice in the locker room. It was refreshing. It was great to get out there to try something new. It was a different strategy, obviously, and so far it's been great. We're getting adjusted to it and it's fun. It's a different style, a free style of basketball, and it's fun to get into the open court, making things happen, out in transition. With all the athletes on this team, all the versatility, it's time to use that and we have been using it.

FanHouse: Do you think you fit into that offense well?

Butler: It's a real good fit. Coach, he goes to the hot hand, he's gonna milk it, he's gonna keep going to it. No knocks to the offense we had over the last couple of years, but that was an equal-opportunity offense, so if a guy came down and scored, it might be five or six more possessions before that guy got the ball again, because it's the Princeton offense. That's just how it worked. Everybody gets the opportunity to be aggressive. This offense is a little different and you saw examples of that tonight.

FanHouse: You've battled nagging injuries all over your body every year you've been in Washington, missing 58 games the last three seasons. How healthy are you as this season begins?

Butler: This is actually the first training camp that I've come in, and actually the first summer I just went into actually feeling great all the way around. Usually in the summer you've got to nurse injuries, take a month, month-and-a-half off to nurse injuries before you can really get back into working out. But that was not the case this summer. I took 2 1/2 weeks off and was right back at it. It felt great. Playing so many minutes, taking up the slack in so many areas, without Gilbert out there, me and Antawn picking up the scoring load, having to do so many things on both ends of the court -- it wore on us. But I felt good, going into a summer fully healthy and being able to work on so many things about your game.

FanHouse: With a new coach, new offense and players back to take the heat off of you -- does your role change?

Butler: No, I'm still gonna be aggressive, still gonna be a leader on this ballclub, gonna do the same things I've been doing. We've just got our guys back healthy. We just want to continue to improve, and show our ability to move up to the top of the Eastern Conference.

FanHouse: Do you really believe you are an elite team in the East?

"I feel like we've got all the weapons intact, all our guys back and I feel that we can compete for a title."
- Caron Butler Butler: Yeah, definitely. I feel like we've got all the weapons intact, all our guys back and I feel that we can compete for a title. I can honestly say it, and I know that I've said that before, because I had the pride in myself to say it. But this time, I don't think I'm stepping out there too far by saying it. The talent is in place, the young guys are ready to step up and do it on a consistent basis, not every other night, but every night. I think we can really make some noise in the Eastern Conference. No excuses, man. This is our motto (pointing to his cap): "It's Our Time.'' That's how we're doing it. We have a four- or five-year window and we want to capitalize on that opportunity.

FanHouse: This team has to play defense better than in past years to achieve that. Can it?

Butler: Everybody knows we can score. We don't have to be the best defensive team, but we know we have to be somewhere in the middle of the pack. We've got to protect the paint, and that comes from the leaders. If you see the leaders out there scrapping, giving extra effort, diving on the floor, everybody will do it. That's the tone we'll set -- the leaders Antawn, Gilbert, Brendan, myself -- and the others will follow. It will trickle down to the last guy on the bench.

FanHouse: Your defensive effort has never been in question in the past ...

Butler: And Coach and I talked about that. He put the challenge in front of me: "I want you to be all-defensive team, as well as a first-team All-Star.'' That's something I thought about, I accepted it and it's something that I'm honing in on.

FanHouse: Saunders specifically challenged you?

Butler: Yeah, right when he met me. He said, "I think you can do tremendous things on the defensive end of the floor, and I'm going to hold you to it. As hard as you work on the offensive end, I want you to work that hard on the defensive end. We have a system and I want you to trust it and it will work out.''

FanHouse: Do you trust it?

Butler: It's gonna work. We've got Brendan back there (and) we have JaVale McGee and (Fabricio) Oberto, big bodies in the back that can make it work.

FanHouse: Two summers ago you visited South Africa with an NBA contingent and this offseason you traveled to China with a group led by Bullets legend Wes Unseld, who played in the first exhibition game ever staged in that country back in 1979. What made you want to make trips like that?

Butler: I'm trying to get out there and see the world, get out there and expose myself to different things. [This year] one of the things I wanted to do was get out there and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Bullets' trip. But more than anything, I wanted to get under Wes Unseld's wing, talk to him about the championship years and the glory days of the Washington Bullets, and try to restore the glory years here in Washington. I'm big on leaving a legacy, outside of being a good basketball player, but being a great professional on and off the court, a guy that really transcended the game and did all the right things. My body of work, I want it to speak volumes. So I talked to him about his work ethic and some of the things he did to bring the team together and I'm looking forward to spending more time with him.

FanHouse: How well had you known Unseld before that?

Butler: I have a great relationship with his son (Wes Jr., a Wizards assistant coach), but I never really had an opportunity to sit down with Wes Sr. But I flew over with him, so we had 16 1/2 hours on the flight, just talking. We went to all the events together, we talked the whole time. I want to be a Wizards great. I've found a home here. I want to spend the rest of my career here, I want to retire here. The way that can happen is, you win games and establish something great here, and I feel that we can do that.

FanHouse: After being traded twice in your first three seasons, do you feel established here?

Butler: It's home. I feel like I've finally found a home. I believe in what management's trying to do here. I think management has a long-term goal and wants me to be a part of it, and I'm just glad I've finally found a place I can call home.