BUTLER LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - The stunned look he wore a year ago after being introduced as part of the Shaquille O'Neal trade was gone Thursday afternoon, replaced by the quintessential navy suit and red tie seen up and down Pennsylvania Avenue.

For the second consecutive summer, Caron Butler found himself in new surroundings - to say nothing of his third team in three seasons - acquired by the Washington Wizards along with Chucky Atkins in exchange for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit.

Butler leaves behind the Lakers only 12 months after arriving, having played some of the best basketball of his career in the final weeks of last season. This time, Butler hopes he may have found a place to call home with the Wizards.

``The best is yet to come for me,'' Butler said. ``The best is next year. We're going to win games and get back to the playoffs and do some magnificent things.''

That Butler ended up in Washington might have been a bit of a surprise, coming only days after the Wizards failed to re-sign Larry Hughes. He was one of Kobe Bryant's closest friends and praised by Phil Jackson when the Lakers coach returned in June.

Butler had heard his name come up in near-continuous trade talk since January. He compared how quiet - too quiet - things were in the halls of the Lakers' headquarters with how loud the speculation was surrounding his future in the outside world.

The Lakers traded Butler for the potential they saw in Brown, the former No. 1 overall pick in 2001. What they gave up was a 25-year-old forward who averaged 21.9 points over 15 games at the end of the season with Lamar Odom out.

While the Lakers won only two of those games, Butler thought he had proved himself. He was back to being the same player he was as a rookie, his name mentioned in the same breath as Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire, before undergoing knee surgery in 2003.

``I always had that in me, after I came back healthy and everything,'' Butler said. ``Once given the opportunity, I took full advantage of it. I really wanted to show people I was more than back and I (had) learned so much more as a basketball player.''

With forwards Jared Jeffries and Jarvis Hayes already on the Wizards' roster, Butler will split time between small forward and shooting guard. He was one of five small forwards with the Lakers, who would have faced a tough decision about re-signing him next summer.

Atkins, meanwhile, said he was most disappointed at not being able to help lead the Lakers back to the playoffs.

``Any time you have as much success as the Lakers have had over the past few years, you don't want to be on a team that doesn't make the playoffs,'' Atkins said.

Atkins also said he thought the Wizards would play a more up-tempo style better suited to his game than the triangle offense.

``I figured somebody was going to get moved,'' Atkins said.

Butler said he hoped to be remembered during his time with the Lakers as somebody who cared about other people.

``The basketball is one thing, but Caron as a person is a whole other thing,'' he said.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

CARON BUTLER

New Wizards guard will be playing for his third team in three seasons.