Warriors Offer Arenas The Max

[Wizardspride]

What a crazy night in free agency. First, Baron Davis surprisingly opted out of the final year of his contract that would have payed him $17.8 million this season from the Golden State Warriors.

Then, according to my sources, the Warriors quickly burned the phones and offered former Warrior Gilbert Arenas a maximum-level contract, one that would pay him more than $100 million over five years. My source told me that Gilbert received a flurry of phone calls from the Warriors in the first 30 minutes of free agency.

After Gilbert drove to the Verizon Center for a late night workout and a meeting with Ernie Grunfeld, the Wizards came strong with an offer of a maximum contract that covers six years for over $124 million (Not sure whether they knew about the Golden State offer or not. I hear they didn't. Ernie came strong but also laid it out for Gilbert that if he asked for the maximum, the team would be in a tough spot.)

According to a source close to Arenas, the three-time all star is mulling the offers but is leaning towards staying with the Wizards and is willing to take less than the maximum if it will help Grunfeld make other moves he needs to make this summer.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/

[Tommy Udo 6]

5 years is the most the Warriors could offer - but I dont have time to research the max amount they can offer.

That is, assuming this story is true

then if GA accepts, Warriors have to renounce Baron's cap hold

[Hopper15]

Quick...somebody get the Sign-Arenas site up and running again.

[Mylie10]

Evidently his knee must be in pretty good shape.

Maxing Gil is out is questionable. i do like the Ellis/ Gil backcourt idea, but that's a ton of money for the ultimate chucker.

[MF23]

How many players do you need to renounce in order to make that offer? Would Mullin really let the value of having Bird rights go in order to make an offer to Arenas?

[Warriorfan]

I'm ok with a Davis for Arenas swap. Assists and power for scoring and quickness. If Arenas accepts hopefully a Harrington/Jackson for Arenas plus small contract sign and trade can happen.

[Chris Porter's Hair]

How many players do you need to renounce in order to make that offer? Would Mullin really let the value of having Bird rights go in order to make an offer to Arenas?

We'd have to renounce Baron, and that is it, which would be fine if we were getting Arenas. I suppose in the fine print there is some way to get Boozer'ed doing such a thing, but I think it is pretty unlikely Baron is back in any case; seems far more believable that he walked away from $17m for a reason.

EDIT: I suppose that was a lazy answer, since I didn't do the math. It is possible that we'd also need to renounce guys like Barnes and/or Pietrus, but it would be guys that are incidental to locking down a top tier player.

[killbuckner]

The Warriors can keep Ellis, Biedrins, and still sign Arenas to a max contract.

[Wizardspride]

Gilbert Arenas is close to accepting a six-year offer from the Washington Wizards that could be worth as much as $127 million, according to a source close to both parties.

Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld early Tuesday morning offered Arenas a six-year deal for $127 million, one of two offers extended to Arenas just after the free agency period began. The Golden State Warriors also offered Gilbert Arenas a max deal, according to a source. The Warriors offered Arenas five years for $101 million. The Wizards, because Arenas was under contract with them, are permitted to offer six years while other teams can offer only five.

Although the Wizards' offer is for an extra year and $26 million, the source said that isn't a deciding factor for Arenas. The Wizards' offer carried more weight with Arenas because the guard has emerged as a star in the NBA during his time in the District. The source also said that Arenas -- who has a 9 a.m. flight today to China for part of a two-week promotional tour with Adidas -- likely will take less than the max to help give the Wizards more flexibility financially. Arenas likely won't agree to the new deal until returning from China and once the NBA releases the salary cap numbers for the coming year so he will have a better idea of what the Wizards have to work with and how he can help by "leaving money on the table," the source said.

[St.Nick]

WHAT?!?!

This is kooky. I like it, sort of, but am not 100% sold on it. I also think that if the Warriors offered Arenas $100M then perhaps Monta could be let go if he asks for much more than $10M a year. Their games overlap too much as shootfirst "PGs" (using the term PG very loosely).

Arenas would be super dynamic in a Nelson-led offense (think well over 30 ppg) but that knee has got to be somewhat of a concern. It is intriguing to think of Arenas as the young leader on this young team, as he is only 26 years old and should only get better over the next 5 years barring injury. That would make our team dangerously good as they came of age in three years or so (assuming we kept Monta)...Arenas, Monta, Marco, Kelenna, Randolph, Brandan, Hendrix, Biedrins...now that is a bad ass young core of guys with an average age of about 22 year old.

With all that being said I think Arena stays with Washington. He made those comments about Cohan ("I just dont trust him"). His buddies from the past are all gone (J-Rich, Jamison, etc). He apparently made them re-sign Jamison under the threat that he would go elsewhere if they didnt. Now if he still left his persona as a guy that values loyalty over all else would be tarnished. Plus, if he stayed in Washington he would become even more of a hero for spurning the Warriors offer.

Then again, Gil is a California guy. San Francisco suits him much better, I believe, and because of this he could do the unexpected and come with us. He is a nutter and anything is possible with him. Its one of the many reasons we love Gil. It really may come down to a coin flip (pun intended ).

[MF23]

Ok, but what happens if say Philly offers a max deal for Ellis or Biedrins when they see Arenas being offered that much? Does this action automatically reduce the cap space because of cap holds or can the Warriors still keep the necessary space to offer Arenas? Or does this force the Warriors to renounce Ellis or Biedrins?

[killbuckner]

If someone signs Ellis or Biedrins to an offersheet then that first hear hit automatically counts as that players new caphold. If Philly was worried about the Warriors competing for players then their smartest move would be to sign Ellis to an offer which would cost the Warriors a ton of caproom.

[Warriorfan]

If Philly makes an offer GS could then make an offer to Iggy. It does not make sense for Philly. They can make the playoffs with Andre Miller as their true veteran pass first pg who compensates for all the Philly young volume scorers.

[GswStorm3]

Offering Gil 100 mil before you signed Andris or Monta is a panic move. Personally I really hope Gil takes that 127 million max offer from the Wiz.

[killbuckner]

Iguodala already counts as 8.4 million against the cap. I don't think that the Warriors would offer him significantly more than that as a first year salary. But Ellis only has like a million dollar caphold, him signing any sort of offersheet would absolutely kill the Warriors caproom.

[giordunk]

The Warriors look like they're in trouble with Monta and Biedrins both free agents that are being targetted and Baron and Azubuike opting out...

Al Harrington + Stephen Jacskon ftw!

[yehyeh82]

Warriors aren't in trouble. I've been wanting Baron to opt out since it has become obvious that he can't lead this team anywhere in the near future, and then he'll be over his prime. Monta and Biedrins may be targetted, but they are restricted so its all good. Youth Movement Time!

[darobster17]

The W's front office probably did panic because once their season ticket holders found out that BD has opted out, they probably wanted out. The W's FO also knows if they don't bring in a high profile player like Areanas, they know they will lose a large amount of season ticket revenue in the upcoming season.

So if Agent Zero does decide to stay with the Wiz, I think the W's are screwed. If they can't get Areanas back, I think they will push to get either Josh Smith or Josh Howard.

[Chris Cohan]

No, they did not panic. They did cartwheels. Arenas is a player they prefer in all ways.
If he takes the money from Washington, it's fine.

The Warriors are in the driver's seat now. Baron lost leverage and stole away the Warriors' prize trade chip because he was not happy about some potential destinations for his expiring contract. He intends to force teams he really does not want to play for to pony up max type money (though the Warriors don't have to settle for matching expiring contracts now and probably won't) or he wants to go to a location he likes, such as Miami, New York, or LA, on a longterm deal. In all cases, he is right back to being a royal pain in a team's a-- but so far is just doing business. When this costs him money this year, it's no longer good business unless he makes more than other point guards get next year. He exposed his value to a market against a better player and established that HE panicked and got desperate to avoid next year's rife FA market and real competition for point guard services. He was afraid of a truer market.

This is a bad gamble for him unless there is a fool on the line.

Sorry Rob, the Warriors are not intimidated by Baron's "bold" (stupid) move and their longstanding ticket holders were excited about what Baron's expiring deal would net in trade. They all noticed his coincidental improvement as soon as Nelson hit town and his contract came up. The new ones all paid their money already and would forfeit significant deposits at this time. The team is confident it will succeed without Davis, especially once they collect return on tradeable assets and sign more important free agents.

Then again, perhaps this will work and force the Warriors to dign him longterm at big fat money.

[St.Nick]

Right. Warriors fans, the smart ones, are not feeling pessimistic because Baron opted out. We understand the direction of the team and the positive things that can come from Baron leaving $17M on the table for us to use now.

I love what Baron has done for this franchise and am especially proud of his play last year, but if he really wants the money that he supposedly asked for (and may deserve, with another team), then we are better off without him.