Jamison hopes that more hardware is in his future in Washington. NBAE/Getty Images

It’s a good thing for the contestants in those celebrity poker tournaments on late night cable television that Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld has his hands full with other matters. With a poker face that could have cracked even the shrewdest of sharks, and a savvy that said plenty without divulging anything at all, Grunfeld played his cards and ended up with an ace in the form of award-winning forward Antawn Jamison.

In a draft night trade that sent Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and Devin Harris, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft to the Dallas Mavericks, the Wizards landed Jamison, the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and cash considerations.

In the weeks leading up to blockbuster deal, Grunfeld left no doubt about the fact that he would entertain any and all offers that would result in the betterment of his team. Repeatedly referring to the fifth pick as an asset, in the end that asset yielded a career 19.1 points-per-game scorer, who brings a stable veteran presence and scoring punch to a team that was in search of both.

“We are trying to get as many good players on our team as possible”, said Grunfeld in the days leading up to Draft night. “We are keeping all of our options open. We’ve had a lot of conversation with teams that are interested in our pick.” One of those teams turned out to be Dallas, who acquired Christian Laettner for the second time in his career, and lost a player that has a pair of 50-point games in his history, in back-to-back contests in 2000.

Jamison’s arrival in Washington signals a reunion with a pair of current Wizards who teamed with Jamison in Golden State. Both Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes played with Jamison for the Warriors, all three of whom were members of the 2001-02 Warriors squad. Hughes (16.5 ppg in 00-01) was witness to Jamison’s career-year in 2000-01 when the forward notched 24.9 points per game, while Arenas (18.3 ppg in 02-03) and Jamison (22.2 ppg in 02-03) combined for 40.5 points per game in the season prior to Arenas’ arrival in DC.

And while Jamison's familiarity with Arenas, Hughes and former college teammate Brendan Haywood will certainly facilitate an easy transition into the Wizards scheme, the man charged with molding the final product thinks Jamison is a good fit regardless of past relationships. “Antawn is a good fit in any type of offense because he is so efficient scoring the basketball," said Jamison's new coach, Eddie Jordan.

Surely not overlooked in the decision to make Jamison a Wizard is the durability of the 28 year-old veteran of six NBA seasons. Jamison brings his league-best streak of 328 consecutive games played to a team that missed 224 total games (Stackhouse – 54, Laettner – 11) to injury last season.

Interestingly, the trade marks the second time in his career that Jamison was involved in a trade with the fifth pick in the Draft, as the North Carolina product swapped teams with Vince Carter in a Draft day deal in 1998.

While Jamison’s career-best season came in 2001-02 with averages of 24.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, Jamison comes off an eye-opening season last year in which he sacrificed personal statistics for the good of the team. Playing a reserve role in 80 of the 82 games in which he appeared, Jamison proved to be a one-man force against the opposing reserves. Jamison single-handedly matched or outscored the opponent’s bench in 17 games.

"Good things do happen to people who are selfless and sacrifice their game," said Jamison on receipt of the Sixth Man Award.

“What he did in Dallas really showed the type of player and type of leader that Antawn is," noted Grunfeld. "We like the fact that he is going to bring that type of unselfishness to our organization. He is terrific person, with a great reputation.”

Often the subject of spelling errors by people that insist on putting the W before the A in ‘Antawn’, for Jamison the A comes before the W, the team comes first, and the W(in)’s are sure to follow.