Arenas for Vince or dump Arenas for cap space?

[JWizmentality]

The world famous flower markets.

Also, the torture museum.

Well duh.

[Wizardspride]

^
So...keep Arenas or dump him?

Keep him.....at least until we know what kind of team we have.

[Wizards2Lottery]

I gotta do Amsterdam before I get married. I just gotta. Vegas has been a 2nd home to me but I've done it so much that's it bit played out in my mind. That's gonna be my next big trip. Might skip the summer league next year & just do Amsterdam instead.

I did Amsterdam two years ago before I went on a month long break to learn more about my heritage in Asia. Amazing place to visit. Didn't want to leave and I plan on going again when I finish my undergrad studies.

[fugop]

I didn't realize CA has a legalization prop on the ballot in Nov.
Read about it in the Outlook section where a couple Mexicans
were hoping it would pass so Mexico would feel OK to do the
same and thereby end the tragic bloodbath. If only.....

no idea whatsoever on its prospects.

Some of my friends have put together a clever campaign around the initiative:

http://justsaynow.com

http://firedoglake.com/justsaynow/

[dobrojim]

so you're politically connected. What does your crystal ball say on 19?

Too close to call, up, down? tell us what you know.

[no D in Hibachi]

I think the Blatche deal really impacts Arenas' standing with the Wiz. Once again Blatche signed a bargain contract and he projects to be quite underpaid when compared to actual production. As does Wall for that matter. Between the two of them they're salary totals will be roughly $13M. This allows the Wiz to have very good cap flexability going forward making Arenas' contract less of a burden.

I know one of the key arguments of the 'lets trade Arenas' camp is that his salary severly limits what the Wiz can do going forward. However, as Nate pointed out, even with Arenas the Wiz can still sign a max contract player in 20012 because Blatche's contract is so cap friendly. The only real insentive to trading Gil would be for potential BOYD deals in 2011 as the free agent crop in 2011 is pretty shallow with nearly all top FA's restricted, but with the shallow crop of FA's and the plethora of teams who are under the cap the chances of a solid BOYD appear limited.

At this point trading Arenas only improves the team in terms of tanking because the cap situation is so good.

[hands11]

All good points.

I'm still where I have been for a while about the Gil issue.

It was best to bring him back this year. The rest will be determined after we watch him play this year.

I expect that after three years, we are finally going to see Gil back and producing only I expect we get a more mature Gil who will be able to focus more on the game that comes most natural to him.

I have been calling for Gil to move to SG for years and for us to get a real PG for so I exciting to see what he does in that situation. It's not uncommon for a team to have a player or two with bad contracts. One bad Gil contract isn't hard to deal with since the rest of the contracts look really good and the ones that aren't great at short term. Gils contract has become a much smaller issue than it was when we also had CB an AJs contracts on the books and we still needed to sign Haywood.

Trading him before would be been trading him at his worst possible value. Only thing that would make his value worse would be him getting injured again. Almost anything Gil does will raise his stock. I fully expect his stock to go up at least 50% from its bottom this year.

The good news for this team is they have several player whos stock can go up a lot this year. It you look at players upside, contract amount and length, and expiring contracts, as if they were stocks with a total asset value, we are primed for a great return this year between players we can keep and assets we can trade. This is the best position this franchise has been in since I can remember. Add to that the value of our front office and its a great time to be a Wizards fan.

The bonus as a Washington sport fan is that the Skins look to get getting it together also and than we also have the Caps and even the Ravens. Finally this town has some teams they can get behind and that makes the whole area more fun.

[eitanr]

I dont doubt that Arenas could perhaps play the 2-guard or replicate some of his old talents. My thing with him is though that him being here doesn't put Wall in the best situation, at least early on, to be successful.

I wouldn't try and get a complete salary dump for him though. I'd like to test him out and hope he can showcase his old talents well...then maybe a contending team, such as Portland (especially if Oden is finally healthy) may do a Miller/Pryz for Arenas swap.

Miller would be a solid 2nd 2rd guard to replace Arenas in that rotation as a stop gap option, and could even be flipped to a 3rd team (Charlotte) for a future asset etc. Pryzbilla is someone I can actually see greatly improving Washington's interior play and overall defense, rebounding etc.

So essentially if Washington can make a creative 3 team deal were they can test several players who may be expiring (the same way they did with Josh Howard), or gain some/any future assets then that's something to re-consider.

[AceDegenerate]

Yeah because Andre Miller puts John Wall in the best situation to succeed. Miller is a PURE PG, Wall is a PG. Arenas is a COMBO-GUARD (who most believe is really the SG he played in College).

Miller/Pryz for Arenas is a piss-poor deal only made if you have a personal problem with Arenas period.

Haters gonna hate. Haters gonna hate.

[gesa2]

I dont doubt that Arenas could perhaps play the 2-guard or replicate some of his old talents. My thing with him is though that him being here doesn't put Wall in the best situation, at least early on, to be successful. ...

Miller would be a solid 2nd 2rd guard to replace Arenas in that rotation as a stop gap option

Sorry, but how is it that Arenas doesn't put Wall in the best situation, but Miller, who can't play 2 guard and has never been happy as a back up, does??

I like the idea of Pryzbilla, but not Andre Miller for us.

[eitanr]

Hence the notion of dealing Miller to a third team etc.

Look I don't fully believe Arenas, a long term individual scorer (i.e. not assisted on), who would be an undersized 2-guard, and would force Wall to take on a larger role on the defensive end, would be anything resembling an ideal compliment to Wall.

Do I hate Arenas? No. But next to Wall wont be the best situation for either player. I don't think Washington needs to be desperate in dealing Gilbert; however, if they can get, again, a useful vet (i.e. Pryzbilla in my example) and another solid asset (what would amount to Miller in a 3 way deal, perhaps some pieces from Charlotte) and test everyone for just a year (like Howard) it has to be a considered move.

Because with that extra cap space from Arenas, Washington can definitely add a slew of pieces in the off-season that should be great compliments to Wall.

If Howard suffers more injuries and/or doesn't seem to be a great fit in Washington's plans, what about Wilson Chandler? Or Thad Young?

If Nick Young doesn't seem to really fit this season, Washington could explore a slew of up tempo energetic scoring 2-guards who may be better fits with Wall...guys like JR Smith, or perhaps buying a pick to get a good 2-guard via the draft.

Joel Pryzbilla could be signed for more beef off the bench, as could Powe...and Jamario Moon to add an athletic 3 perhaps.

Most importantly, the move puts the Zards in a Thunder like situation. Build through the draft, but if need be add picks from the flexible cap....that could be the greatest asset of all.

[Shanghai Kid]

I see Gilbert as the NBA's version of Michael Vick. Now I'm not saying John Wall is Kevin Kobb, but I have no doubt that team being decent this year is on Gilbert's shoulders and not the future franchise player's shoulders.

[eitanr]

I see Gilbert as the NBA's version of Michael Vick. Now I'm not saying John Wall is Kevin Kobb, but I have no doubt that team being decent this year is on Gilbert's shoulders and not the future franchise player's shoulders.

But should that really be the case? Don't we want to see what Wall can do as the full fledged leader?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I see Gilbert as the NBA's version of Michael Vick. Now I'm not saying John Wall is Kevin Kobb, but I have no doubt that team being decent this year is on Gilbert's shoulders and not the future franchise player's shoulders.

Great analogy, SK. I don't see Gil making a 20-yr old phenom any worse in the long haul at all.

People forget that even last season he showed he can still drop 40. He can still generate a triple double. Comparing him to Vick is really spot on. Everyone (but a few of us) has written him off. I think, like Vick, that having that one so-so year behind him, Gilbert is going to be a monster this season if he stays healthy. He's better than Wall is ready to be right now, offensively.

I think the best thing the Wizards can do is win games with this cast really competing every night. Wall, like cream, is going to rise to the top, eventually.

Early on, however, this should remain Gil's team.

[hands11]

I don't think it makes much sense worrying about what to trade him for before you even see what the team looks like this year.

I think it makes sense to see what you have first before worrying about what you need. We need to know the value of our assets 4 months from now, not right now. They have to play first for us to do that.

Two days time camp starts. More will be revealed.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Simply put, it'll be nice to have guards on this team that don't suck. I am so tired of watching the likes of Mike James and Dee Brown the last few years. Please put an end to this misery.

[verbal8]

If Nick Young doesn't seem to really fit this season, Washington could explore a slew of up tempo energetic scoring 2-guards who may be better fits with Wall...guys like JR Smith, or perhaps buying a pick to get a good 2-guard via the draft.

I don't think JR Smith would be enough of an upgrade over Nick Young to justify dealing with his issues. I can't really see Leonsis making an exception on his "no-jerks" policy for a guy who is likely the 6th or 7th best player on a good team.

[VA_story]

I say let Arenas show that he can still play, then trade him. Wheather if its for a salary dump or talent in return...we need to get rid of him. There is no point in keeping him on the team. Plus if we keep him, the Hinrich deal becomes damn near pointless.

[DaRealHibachi]

I say let Arenas show that he can still play, then trade him. Wheather if its for a salary dump or talent in return...we need to get rid of him. There is no point in keeping him on the team. Plus if we keep him, the Hinrich deal becomes damn near pointless.

And who are we going to give the ball to when we need points in the playoffs/clutch...???

People tend to forget the need for a legit 1st option to go deep into... Without Gil, who is that going to be...???

[Ruzious]

I see Gilbert as the NBA's version of Michael Vick. Now I'm not saying John Wall is Kevin Kobb, but I have no doubt that team being decent this year is on Gilbert's shoulders and not the future franchise player's shoulders.

Great analogy, SK. I don't see Gil making a 20-yr old phenom any worse in the long haul at all.

People forget that even last season he showed he can still drop 40. He can still generate a triple double. Comparing him to Vick is really spot on. Everyone (but a few of us) has written him off. I think, like Vick, that having that one so-so year behind him, Gilbert is going to be a monster this season if he stays healthy. He's better than Wall is ready to be right now, offensively.

I think the best thing the Wizards can do is win games with this cast really competing every night. Wall, like cream, is going to rise to the top, eventually.

Early on, however, this should remain Gil's team.

Who here has written him off?

The Wizards shouldn't be any one player's team. That only works with teams that have superstars (at least top 10 in the NBA). I agree that Wall will eventually rise to that level.

Offensively, I think they'll be just fine together. Arenas' ability to score outside and on drives will take some presure off of Wall and be a help to him. It's on the defensive end that there's a problem - but that would always be the case with Gil - no matter who he plays with.