Rumours of Arenas missing entire season

[Andrew]

Wizards Thinking Of Sitting Arenas All Season?

Ivan Carter of the Washington Post has reported that there have been whispers that the Wizards could choose to sit Gilbert Arenas for the entire season.

Arenas originally targeted Dec. 1 as a possible comeback date but remains on the shelf with not clear date in sight.

Not to compare apples and oranges, but one of the first things that comes to mind is Grant Hill sitting out the entire 2003/2004 season after his first few injury plagued years in Orlando and coming back to have a pretty good season in 2004/2005. With all the problems Arenas has had, perhaps taking things slow and making sure he's 100% before he returns would be in everyone's best interest.

At the same time, you can't help thinking of that huge new contract he signed in the offseason and the way his return keeps getting pushed back. I wonder if the Wizards are second guessing it at all and how concerned they are at the moment, since they'd know the full story while we're left to speculate on his exact condition.

[Lamrock]

Good investment the Wizards made.

[Alejandrov011]

I want Gilbert on the court


I miss his Buzzer beaters

[Andrew]

So do the Wizards, I'm sure.

[Andrew]

Contrary to the previous report, Arenas is reportedly close to returning. Of course, that's been the story of Arenas' recent career, conflicting reports and pushed back return dates.

[NovU]

From my perspective, he's getting overpaid and overrated. Let's see if he can turn the table around for the pitiful Wiz.

[nba_baller]

I reckon if he doesn't play this season the Wiz will say bye-bye to Gilbert, despite his excellent play "that season he wan't injured (2007? Forgot )".

[Andrew]

Easier said than done. You can't cut him after you've signed him to that big extension and despite establishing himself as an All-Star level talent in recent years, trading him could be difficult as that's a big contract to take on and his knee problems continue to raise questions about his durability. That's not to say there wouldn't be any takers but I think other teams would be a bit more wary about trading for him than they would a couple of years ago.

[hova-]

Right now it seems like he does not plan to return soon. Click me

He says hes not even close.

[Andrew]

Which of course confirms an earlier report and conflicts with another. Also, he could well have said it tongue-in-cheek but this kind of thing:

"I don't know. I mean, seven wins? Would you?"

isn't really what you want to hear from one of your best players who just re-signed for $111 million over six years.

[hova-]

Well thats imho a huge problem of the NBA. Giving up whole seasons after just about 30 games played. I mean in other leagues for example you have to try to win or otherwise you may face relegation. In the NBA there are no teams going up and down through a league system. Its even more of a battle with the last seed having the biggest chances to get the number one draft pick. Loosing becomes affordable then.

But its a typical Arenas. This guy kind of pisses me off

[Andrew]

Agreed. If only he got as fired up to prove a point over the Wizards losing as he does when he takes personal offense to other teams claiming they can shut him down or not drafting him all those years ago or whatever.

[jonthefon]

I can't believe the Wizards were suckered into signing him for a max contract when they knew he had knee problems. They should be at fault here.

[Andrew]

They're definitely at fault if this ultimately blows up in their face longterm; if it's just this year, they can probably stomach it. They've been modestly successful with him though, getting to the Playoffs and advancing a couple of times and he's certainly got talent so even though they were no doubt aware of the risk I'm sure they were keeping the potential rewards in mind.

[jonthefon]

The guy's just turned 27. The contract's going to be a complete albatross as he gets further into his 30s and loses his athletic ability unless he figures out how to become more of a "proper" PG. He won't ever be a Jason Kidd but...

[Andrew]

Depending on how early his athleticism starts to decline and whether he'll eventually make a full recovery (or close enough) from these knee problems, he'll probably remain an effective scorer into his early 30s. The last couple of years have been pretty close to a complete disaster for him though, missing the playoffs with the late season injury in 2007, most of the regular season last year before returning late in the year not quite 100% and not playing up to par in the postseason and now heading towards missing half the 2009 season and counting (five more games and he'll have officially missed the entire first half of the year).

[Fcuk Orlando]

The Wizards are screwed, they payed 111 million to a guy who can't play and now doesn't even want to play

[Andrew]

Well, not this season anyway. I'm sure he's eager to get back on the court at some point but you definitely don't want your best player saying he doesn't feel like coming back because the team is struggling, though having only read the quote I don't know how serious he sounded when he said that so he's arguably deserving of the benefit of the doubt on that one.

[Bsktblking25]

i drafted him 3rd in fantasy basketball. o well.

[AMenace]

The wizards should trade Arenas for another guard. If they could get someone like Derrick Rose, or Deron Williams, it would improve the Wizards as they are hopeless without Arenas, and they could do better if they get someone who will not be injured as much.

[Andrew]

And what's in it for the Bulls and Jazz in a deal like that?

[Drex]

A $111 million blogger.

[Andrew]

Exactly. No one else is going to trade away a healthy point guard for a contract the Wizards themselves don't want to pay.

[erik_twism]

I can see a Arenas for T-Mac trade coming

[shadowgrin]

A $111 million blogger.

Not to mention a decent XBox Live player.