Horrible news where the Magic profit: Arenas has surgery

[drsd]

Gilbert Arenas had a third operation on his bothersome left knee Wednesday, once again throwing into doubt his status for the Washington Wizards' upcoming season.

Arenas had a "moderate amount of debris" removed from the knee after experiencing swelling and discomfort during his rehabilitation.

The Wizards offered no timetable for his return -- beyond the fact that he obviously won't be ready for the start of training camp next week -- but Arenas told The Washington Post that he plans to be back on the court in early December, which would rule him out for the first month of the season.

Arenas has knee surgery, says he'll be back in December

Sadly, very sadly, there can be little doubt the Magic profit from this horrible news.


..

[SOUL]

I'd be PO'ed if I was a wiz fan

[paperboymafia]

sucks for the wiz. big time.

[Optimus_Steel]

We learned from the Grant Hill situation. Its extremely risky to sign players who are coming off major injuries and have not yet made a succesful return. Arenas knees have been hurt for almost 2 years now, so I would not call this a freak injury. I am not suprised that he is having knee problems again to be honest, I would not be surpised if those problems continued. Funny thing is that he was heralded by the media as some hero because he took a couple of mill's less. He might have pulled the basketball crime of the decade with that contract. Now he has time to oversee that luxurious shark tank of his...

[Force9024]

Sucks, especially when the Wiz sunk all that money into bringing him and Jamison back. Jamison taking a slight pay decrease to play along side him and Caron again. Unfortunate. But these type things happen. As good as it is for us, you never wish injury that could bother them for the rest of their career. I like Agent Zero and hope he eventually rehabs completely.. Hopefully by then he'll get traded back to the Western Conference..

[MitchellUK]

I feel pretty bad for the Wizards fans right now, although as it has been pointed out this gives the Magic a big head start and overall advantage in the Southeast. I still don't see either Miami, Atlanta or Charlotte as big dangers to overthrow us as Southeast champs, so the Wiz losing their no.1 guy for the first 1-2 months of the year gives us a major boost.

All that said, for bug chunks of last season the Wizards really looked like they didn't miss Gilbert too much. Butler when he was out, for sure, but Arenas not so much.

[craig01]

Tough break, but the question is what does this do to his game once he's healthy.

[magicfanatic23]

I honestly feel bad for the Wizards and their fans. It sure does seem like he might be their version of Grant Hill. It sucks.

Yea we benefit from this injury but this is something I wouldn't root for or be happy about. I like Arenas and it is too bad this happened.

[mhectorgato]

Tough break, but the question is what does this do to his game once he's healthy.

Not only his game, but the team. They go into preseason preparing to play without him. Then part way into the season, their game plan has to go through a big change.


A question on his return last season: Did he rush his return? Or was it in line with the doc's time table?

[richboy]

This really makes only Miami a legit competition for tops in the division. Washington was probably a stronger challenger with a healthy Arenas. We will see if he can come back at a decent time and healthy.

[damo[23]]

This really makes only Miami a legit competition for tops in the division. Washington was probably a stronger challenger with a healthy Arenas. We will see if he can come back at a decent time and healthy.

I am still not convinced by Miami until I see them play with everyone on the court for more than a handful of games.

Big blow to the Wiz but lets face it, they are getting more used to playing without him, that first season he missed a load of games they managed zero wins without him I think [they were 1 and 28 or something with any of their big 3 missing], but last season they werent nearly as bad [obviously].

[mhectorgato]

I am still not convinced by Miami until I see them play with everyone on the court for more than a handful of games.

For this season I don't count them a true contender.

Big blow to the Wiz but lets face it, they are getting more used to playing without him, that first season he missed a load of games they managed zero wins without him I think [they were 1 and 28 or something with any of their big 3 missing], but last season they werent nearly as bad [obviously].

True, but if he comes back a month in - then there's going to be a readjustment period. What if they are doing well without him and then after he rejoins the stink? It may cause some internal friction.

[CourtsideTV]

he got lucky again with the $

[damo[23]]

True, but if he comes back a month in - then there's going to be a readjustment period. What if they are doing well without him and then after he rejoins the stink? It may cause some internal friction.

Yeah definatly - and theres ofcourse the risk he goes back out again [though I'd never wish that on him]. Its a blow, mentally its got to take a hit to the franchise - paying him that money surely is a message of intent aswell "he's back and ready" sort of thing, then almost straight off the bat its back out again.

Just saying though, they have done decently without him, so we do need to capitalise on it no matter what the situation really.

[EasternMagic]

Ya I feel bad for the Wiz, the Wiz fans, and Gilbert, he seems like a pretty good guy and you never wish this kind of career lingering injury on anyone. It's a shame because of how good he was right before his injury and what that could potentially become/have become, same situation with GHill.

[Orange Ave.]

We'll see about that December claim.

Vince was able to come back strong. Wade is looking very good. Amare has defied rumors of his demise. Arenas may yet be back to his superstar level, and Washington may ultimately be a stronger team for it. That being said, I don't see this team, as constructed, going anywhere near a ring. This roster needs drastic additions or a drastic change.

Miami is two years and some tinkering away from being a beast.

[macdalejax]

I don't see Arenas coming back to his former self at all. I think the Wiz and their fans got the shaft with that huge contract.

As far as Miami goes, the jury is still out on that one. 2 years away? I doubt that. I don't see former superstars and vets flocking there to fill gaps like they did in Boston. They also have to figure out what to do about Marion's contract situation as well as convince Wade to stay put with teams throwing their virgin daughters at him left and right in 2010.

[lovehoops01]

Convince Wade to stay put with teams throwing their virgin daughters at him left and right in 2010.

What?

On Gilbert...if he is able to return in December, the Wizards definitely will have no problems being very good. He definitely has struggled with that knee. But I wouldn't assume that he is done and certainly wouldn't look for it to happen, saying it would be good for the Magic. Secondly, the Wiz proved last season they are perfectly capable of making the playoffs without Gilbert. They won for a streak last season without Gilbert or Butler. They lost to the Cavs in the playoffs, the same team they have lost in the playoffs to even with Gilbert (kind of like the Magic and Pistons). And as I recall, Antawn Jamison pretty much single-handedly beat the Magic once.

As far as the Heat go....they definitely won't be as easy to beat this season. Dwyane Wade is going to be MUCH better. Marion might actually play. Don't forget...he played almost none for the Heat last season because when he saw how bad they were he suddenly was "hurt'' for the first time in his career. He will be motivated to play well because he is looking for a new long-term contract from someone. Beasley will help them if he keeps his head. If he goes outside the game plan to try to make himself shine (like all the barking he is doing now about firing his agent because he doesn't have an endorsement deal before he even steps on the court as an NBA player). All of them will have to buy into what Spoelstra tells them. But they cannot be as bad as they were last season -- they just can't. And if they are, I kind of would be surprised if Wade stays there long term. If anything, I'd expect him and LeBron to try to hook up somewhere together. They seem to be very close on Team USA.

[drsd]

As far as the Heat go....they definitely won't be as easy to beat this season. Dwyane Wade is going to be MUCH better. Marion might actually play.

The Heat will score, and their defense will improve. But this team will struggle on the board. Most nights, I'd be suprised if the Heat bring down 35+ rebounds.

Miami will lose quite some games simple because they lack equal possessions.

[DiplomaticMagic]

IMO, Hawks > Heat.