Arenas Traded for Rashard Lewis

[closg00]

Gilbert in this Orlando interview:

"I can create for others and get to the basket"

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/videobet ... ando-Magic

We knew it all along, glad he can begin taking it to the basket again for a new team. Good Luck Gil!

[Hoopalotta]

Wojo in the house; he can really be a hatchet man when he wants to be, but his more straight reporting is great:

The mandate hangs over the Orlando Magic with words spoken and unspoken, an understanding of the ultimate requirement necessary for sparing themselves the devastation of Dwight Howard’s departure as a free agent.

“Nothing short of a championship,” one league source insists is the burden the Magic are working under to hold onto Howard. Privately, Magic general manager Otis Smith confessed to his closest associates this week that his franchise’s circumstances have become Cleveland and LeBron James all over again.

For Arenas, this is his chance to salvage something of his legacy. He’s been the scorer, the clown, the prankster, the tragic hero of the Wizards and the NBA. Maybe now, he can be the reason that Howard stays with the Magic. He never handled being some kind of a savior in Washington, but this time, the job’s different in Orlando: Save the savior.

Most of all, these will be trades judged on Arenas, on what’s still important to him, what’s left of his abilities. All along, Arenas wanted a chance to play ball with Howard in Orlando. All along, he prayed this would be the trade to get him out of Washington, to free him of the bad circumstance he had created for himself.

There's lots more too with a lot of it fixing on Gil:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... rade121910

[willbcocks]

The guy is a prolific reporter and writer. He publishes more negative stuff on the Heat that most journalists publish in total.

[W. Unseld]

A day later this trade still s#cks. Blame EG, but the worst sign of this trade is Ted signing off on it and what motives were behind that.

[AceDegenerate]

I sure hope they don't plan on doing some sort of big red carpet announcement for bringing in Rashard Lewis. I can see it now, GM Ernie up there talking about how Rashard is going to bring DEFENSE and REBOUNDING to this team. Big FAT Ted with his Jersey Shore Tan and a smile as big as his belly talking of how this is a trade we had to make for now and our future.

Honestly, I think this franchise will never again see the kind of "spending" we saw from Abe Pollin in his last days, FAT Ted is never going to spend for this squad.

[Induveca]

A day later this trade still s#cks. Blame EG, but the worst sign of this trade is Ted signing off on it and what motives were behind that.

This trade is as sickening to me as the Webber trade. No clue how this org despite who is running the show finds a way to justify selling low time and time again. Seriously we just took on the worst contract in the league, and gave away our best player to acquire that contract.

Awful trade. Taking on Lewis if it HAD to be done, at the very least deserved a second round or even protected first round pick.

[closg00]

A day later this trade still s#cks. Blame EG, but the worst sign of this trade is Ted signing off on it and what motives were behind that.

This trade is as sickening to me as the Webber trade. No clue how this org despite who is running the show finds a way to justify selling low time and time again. Seriously we just took on the worst contract in the league, and gave away our best player to acquire that contract.

Awful trade. Taking on Lewis if it HAD to be done, at the very least deserved a second round or even protected first round pick.

+1 Ernie once-again made it easy for a GM more desperate then himself to get the better end of a trade. I don't think that Ernie wants to deal with having extra picks quite frankly.

Ps. We don't know what Ernie asked for, but we know that the Suns got a 1st round pick and cash out of their trade with Orlando.

[Hoopalotta]

There's a little bit of Zardos stuff in the Adande column at ESPN:

The Washington Wizards have one less year of a big contract obligation and 3 3/4 less years of Gilbert Arenas. Wizards staffers were saying things like, "It changes the culture of our team and our locker room," and, "We've got to get away from the past."

Arenas is "not the guy he once was in terms of that last step of explosion to the rim," a Wizards source said. "He's still pretty good on the floor with his ballhandling and strength and getting by. He can't finish as effectively. He's diving into people" to draw the foul.

The Wizards felt that Arenas had trouble committing to the franchise because he felt they didn't do enough to support him in the wake of the Dec. 21, 2009, gun incident and his subsequent behavior that ultimately resulted in a league-imposed suspension for the rest of the season and a felony conviction for an unlicensed weapon. One source noted that "when he was focused and wanted to audition," Arenas scored 31 points in Orlando this season. Perhaps being reunited with Smith, a GM who was willing to take a chance on him post-conviction, Arenas will respond with something closer to the mid-to-high-20s scoring performances he produced regularly in the middle of the last decade.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/s ... als-101218

Nothing else about us in there.

[fishercob]

The trade itself doesn't bother me. We were in no position to get any kind of pick or prospect, much a I'd have liked. No one else wanted Gilbert -- there was basically no market for him. Look at the bright side, guys: If this trade hadn't happened we may have been in an even worse position whereby our only chance of moving Gil would have been the give up an asset like a pick or a prospect. I'm really not upset by the trade itself.

That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't depressed. Being at the game last night -- and the way it ended -- adds to it no doubt. But I'm burning mad at Ernie for his comments at the end of the press release. Emailed Ted about it in as calm and respectful fashion as possible.

I'm not concerned that Ernie is going to be here long term. I have a lot of faith in Ted, and Ernie's way of doing things is so counter to what Ted is about -- accountability, honesty, humility, among other traits -- that I am sure once the GM's job is focused more on building than tearing down, Ernie will be gone. ****. I'd like to wax that douche-ass mustache right off, 40-year-old birgin style.


I'm annoyed that Lewis is going to set foot on the court for the Wizards. I really liked what Josh Howard showed last night. I'm guessing (hoping?) that Howard is going to play a little bit of 2-guard to balance out the rotations a bit. If healthy, hopefully it's something like

Wall(34) Hinrich (14)
Young (34) Hinrich (10) Howard (4)
Howard (25) Shart (15) Al (8)
Blatche (30) Shart (10) Booker (8)
McGee (27) Neck (12) Seraphin 9)

Just looking at those numbers, hopefully Thornton gets pulled out of the rotation altogether and Shart plays more 3, opening up more time for Booker.

[Rafael122]

Honestly, I'm not that worked up about it anymore. Orlando is in the same position Cleveland was 1-2 years ago, where they kept winning 55+ games, but couldn't get over the hump so they decided to start adding major names in order to keep Lebron and win a ring.

Neither happened.

I'm not suggesting this will happen in Orlando, but clearly all of this is for Dwight.

I'm not gonna start cheering for Orlando though just because Gilbert is there. If anything, I'm hoping this blows up in Orlando's face. You just can't add 4-5 new players mid-season and expect everything to be OK. I think it's kinda messed up that Gilbert is willing to opt out of his deal so he can help Orlando's cap situation. That's **** up, because he wasn't going to do that in DC.

[nate33]

You mean just like the majority of this board and yourself said trading the 5th pick for Mike Miller and Randy 'freaking' Foye was a rational move?

Every deal, based on its on merit at the time its made can be made to look rational. If that wasn't the case, the move wouldn't be made in the first place.

We've got an abject of a disaster of a GM running things. Always buy high and sell low. Yes, I understand the desire and impetus to move Gilbert. I would have been fine with an expiring or something close to that. Instead we shave one year off the deal to get a significantly inferior player with less in his tank than Gilbert at a higher per year salary. And I love how you jump to conclusions about these supposed savings in 2012 when its a stretch to even assume that this will be the case.

I hated that trade because I didn't think Foye was any better than Nick Young - so it was just the #5 pick for a one-year rental of Miller plus the unloading of $3M of Etan's salary. But I thought the concept of trading the 5th pick was a rational move if one assumes that Abe gave EG the goal of winning before he died. On paper, that team should have been a 45-win team with an outside shot of making some noise in the playoffs if Arenas got his mojo back by season's end. Arenas, Miller, Butler, Jamison, Haywood, Blatche and Foye. That's a good team if things came together.

The trade was also a little easier to swallow when one realized that the BPA on EG's board was Rubio.

But as to the rest of your point, I don't think you are being realistic. Of course it would have been better to hold out for an expiring contract, but that simply wasn't going to be offered. The problem was that Arenas was tanking it. He clearly no longer wanted to play at 100% because he was afraid of getting hurt and he had lost his joy for the game. He was not a very good basketball player this year - considerably worse than he was last year. And there was no indication that he was getting better. And you can't attribute it to injury or rust. Arenas wasn't going to play any better in Wizards uniform. Period. And if word got out that he wasn't trying because he was pushing for a trade, then his value would have dropped even more. It would have been another media circus and all the talking heads would have called him a "cancer" again.

[fishercob]

Honestly, I'm not that worked up about it anymore. Orlando is in the same position Cleveland was 1-2 years ago, where they kept winning 55+ games, but couldn't get over the hump so they decided to start adding major names in order to keep Lebron and win a ring.

Neither happened.

I'm not suggesting this will happen in Orlando, but clearly all of this is for Dwight.

I'm not gonna start cheering for Orlando though just because Gilbert is there. If anything, I'm hoping this blows up in Orlando's face. You just can't add 4-5 new players mid-season and expect everything to be OK. I think it's kinda messed up that Gilbert is willing to opt out of his deal so he can help Orlando's cap situation. That's **** up, because he wasn't going to do that in DC.

The Trojan horse aspect is not lost on me. Dwight may want to come play with Wall, Perry Jones and friends.

[AceDegenerate]

The Trojan horse aspect is not lost on me. Dwight may want to come play with Wall, Perry Jones and friends.

THIS is the type of fanboyism I was being accused of on here regarding Arenas, however this COMPLETE IDIOCY is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read on a basketball forum. Let me guess, Carmelo Anthony is going to be a Wizard too right guys?

Gilbert Arenas will be in the NBA Hall Of Fame and will have broken Wilt Chamberlain's 100pt scoring game record WELL BEFORE DWIGHT HOWARD EVEN CONSIDERS WEARING A WASHINGTON WIZARDS UNIFORM.

I love how just a couple of posts up it can be stated MATTER-OF-FACTLY that Gilbert just WOULD NOT EVER play good for the Wizards again. Just like that, matter-of-factly. No possibilty the organization could have handled his situation differently, no possibility that brining in a different GM would have changed how he felt about playing here, no possibility that treating the man with a little bit of dignity and respect instead of throwing him on the end of the bench; would have changed the way things worked out. None of that is even possible, because Gilbert just wasn't going be ever be a good basketball player for the Wizards, PERIOD.

Well guess what? DWIGHT HOWARD WILL NEVER BE A WASHINGTON WIZARD. PERIOD.

[nate33]

That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't depressed. Being at the game last night -- and the way it ended -- adds to it no doubt. But I'm burning mad at Ernie for his comments at the end of the press release. Emailed Ted about it in as calm and respectful fashion as possible.

What did EG say?

[Russ369]

What # is Rashard gonna wear?

[fishercob]

That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't depressed. Being at the game last night -- and the way it ended -- adds to it no doubt. But I'm burning mad at Ernie for his comments at the end of the press release. Emailed Ted about it in as calm and respectful fashion as possible.

What did EG say?

From the F EG thread:

Ernie with a parting shot to Gilbert in the press release:

“When we re-signed Gilbert prior to the 2008-09 season, we envisioned a level of team success that we unfortunately were not able to achieve due to injuries and other factors beyond our control,” said Grunfeld. “We appreciate the contributions that he made to this franchise and this city and wish him the best of luck.”

No class. No responsibility for past failures.

F U C K YOU ERNIE!!!!

[Wizardspride]

I despise Ernie but I don't see anything wrong with those comments.

[Benjammin]

Ernie is one of those guys who believes his s**t doesn't stink, which isn't quite so annoying when you're actually achieving something. A little bit of humility might serve one well with the results achieved over the last several years.

[Wizardspride]

Does anyone get the vibe that these unnamed Wiz "sources" are an attempt to discredit Gil to a certain extent?

[Zonkerbl]

"Gil's gun screwup and inability to listen to his doctor's advice screwed this franchise over for three years in a row."

That's a fact. The fact that he didn't say "thanks for nothin, don't let the door hit you on the way out" was classy. I do wish he could have gotten more for Gil than a burning bag of dog poo.