Wizards and Arenas agree on 6 year 111 million deal

[Wizards2Lottery]

A second round exit or an ECF appearence is the ceiling of this team. I'll take that over letting both Arenas and Jamison go and hoping for the best. At least right now we have one of the better three stars of the league who can play together. We just need to hope for better health and development from our young players like Young and Blatche.

[nate33]

At the end of the day, Washington just spent $161 million to keep a .500 team together. That's just not very smart in my estimation.

To be fair, they're a little better than a .500 team. They're a .500 team when Arenas misses 70 games and Butler misses 24. I think the team is easily capable of winning 50 games or more if healthy. I'd put the over/under at about 47 wins this season. They should definitely advance to the 2nd round a couple of times in the next 4 years, and they might even make the ECF once or twice. I don't think they're a championship contender.

But that's not really the fault of management. With the exception of the 2004 Pistons, every champion of the past 29 years has included a top 20 all time player on their roster (one can make a case that Isiah wasn't a top 20 player, so that's 3 teams in the past 29). You need a super duper star to win a championship. The Wizards don't have one. Letting Arenas or Jamison walk wouldn't change this fact.

The Wizards are doing the best they can with the hand they were dealt. Everybody agrees that Arenas isn't really worth $111M on the basketball court (though if you factor the revenue he generates, then he might well be worth the money). But the alternative was having no Arenas, no chance at a title whatsoever, and no significant fan interest in the franchise.

It could be worse. The Wizards could be paying Michael Redd this kind of money. Or worse still, Stephon Marbury or Steve Francis. I think this is analogous to paying Ray Allen a max deal, or perhaps Allen Iverson or Vince Carter. Yeah it's overpaying, but the guy can definitely play. He wins a lot of ball games; and he puts fans in the seats.

[The Rebel]

Arenas is worth that deal when he is healthy, the big problem I see is that he seems to be hurt to much for a team to spend that kind of money on him.

[SA37]

To be fair, they're a little better than a .500 team. They're a .500 team when Arenas misses 70 games and Butler misses 24. I think the team is easily capable of winning 50 games or more if healthy. I'd put the over/under at about 47 wins this season. They should definitely advance to the 2nd round a couple of times in the next 4 years, and they might even make the ECF once or twice.

I said .500 team because since 2004-2005, that is what they have been. (Granted, in 2004-2005 the trio was Jamison, Arenas, and Hughes, but it was Hughes' best season as a pro and comparable to the numbers Caron puts up.) Since 2004-2005 (I'll exclude last year since Arenas missed most of the year) the Wizards are 128-118. If you include the playoffs, they're 134-132.

I don't think they're a championship contender. But that's not really the fault of management. You need a super duper star to win a championship. The Wizards don't have one. Letting Arenas or Jamison walk wouldn't change this fact.The Wizards are doing the best they can with the hand they were dealt.

I don't know how much I agree that it doesn't necessarily fall on management that the team isn't a title contender. They are the ones who build the teams after all. (Of course, I realize there are constraints they face and it isn't just cake to build a contender.)

Let me clearly state that I don't think what they did is atrocious or horrendous by any stretch. It's just the goal is to win championships, and it doesn't feel like the Wizards took a step towards achieving that goal. They seemed quite content -- as do a lot of Wizards fans -- to just have a semi-competitive team, which to me is unacceptable.

That said, there may be an opportunity for Washington to turn a few of those deals that expire in '10 into a decent player, given so many teams are after space for '10. This whole situation looks a lot better if the Wizards' FO can make that happen.

[triplet1984]

lol look at these quotes

Arenas told the Washington Times and Washington Post that he was offered a maximum deal in the neighborhood of $127 million on Tuesday, the first day of the free agency period.

"(The Wizards) offered me the max, and I'm basically giving back $16 million," Arenas told the Washington Times from China, where [he] is traveling as part of promotional tour for a shoe company. "This is in line with what I've been saying the whole time. You see players take max deals and they financially bind their teams. I don't wanna be one of those players and three years down the road your team is strapped and can't do anything about it."

lmao this guy is trying to act like a martyr, wow Gilbert you are doing so much to not financially strap your team..

I know, right? I mean, it's nice that he took less money, I'm not bashing him for that, but that quote is hilarious. 2 million a year doesn't do anything to remove that financial bind. The Wiz are pretty much just as financially binded by a 106 million contract as they are the 127 one. Taking the smaller contract here is basically just a nice gesture, not any sort of attempt to help the team out in the future.

[TheKingOfVa360]

Some players are hated on no matter what they do, he left 16 million dollars on the table, and people are still mad at him.

I agree

[queridiculo]

I know, right? I mean, it's nice that he took less money, I'm not bashing him for that, but that quote is hilarious. 2 million a year doesn't do anything to remove that financial bind. The Wiz are pretty much just as financially binded by a 106 million contract as they are the 127 one. Taking the smaller contract here is basically just a nice gesture, not any sort of attempt to help the team out in the future.

The $2 million may just be the difference between signing a player to a full MLE without crossing the luxury threshold, that's what all of you joking about Arenas aren't grasping.

Washington has a real shot at brining in somebody like Landry, Barnes or Posey, something that wouldn't have been realistic had Arenas taken the max.

[Warspite]

I know, right? I mean, it's nice that he took less money, I'm not bashing him for that, but that quote is hilarious. 2 million a year doesn't do anything to remove that financial bind. The Wiz are pretty much just as financially binded by a 106 million contract as they are the 127 one. Taking the smaller contract here is basically just a nice gesture, not any sort of attempt to help the team out in the future.

The $2 million may just be the difference between signing a player to a full MLE without crossing the luxury threshold, that's what all of you joking about Arenas aren't grasping.

Washington has a real shot at brining in somebody like Landry, Barnes or Posey, something that wouldn't have been realistic had Arenas taken the max.

An MLE contract is around 6mill. Arenas didnt give any discount when you figure in the differance between the last yr of his old contract and 1st yr of new contract. The Net discount is = to the LLE.

Then again the Wiz have never been about winning and arent trying to win a championship. They are there to entertain. The Wizards like 25 other teams dont care about winning. Honestly how do half the titles belong to 3 teams if everyone is trying to win?

[Wizardspride]

Then again the Wiz have never been about winning and arent trying to win a championship. They are there to entertain. The Wizards like 25 other teams dont care about winning. Honestly how do half the titles belong to 3 teams if everyone is trying to win?

Do you know how hard it is to win a championship? Its just as much a matter of pure luck as proper planning.

Look at how few teams have ever won a ring. Interestingly enough the Wiz (though its been many years) are among the few organizations who HAVE ACTUALLY WON a championship.

[nate33]

Then again the Wiz have never been about winning and arent trying to win a championship. They are there to entertain. The Wizards like 25 other teams dont care about winning. Honestly how do half the titles belong to 3 teams if everyone is trying to win?

Yeah, because if the Wizards let Arenas walk, everyone would be praising them about their single-minded pursuit of a championship.

[Flash3]

lol look at these quotes

Arenas told the Washington Times and Washington Post that he was offered a maximum deal in the neighborhood of $127 million on Tuesday, the first day of the free agency period.

"(The Wizards) offered me the max, and I'm basically giving back $16 million," Arenas told the Washington Times from China, where [he] is traveling as part of promotional tour for a shoe company. "This is in line with what I've been saying the whole time. You see players take max deals and they financially bind their teams. I don't wanna be one of those players and three years down the road your team is strapped and can't do anything about it."

lmao this guy is trying to act like a martyr, wow Gilbert you are doing so much to not financially strap your team..

Why can't GA just say the right things, instead of trying to always make it sound like it's all about himself, just like he's doing now...

I don't have an issue with the $ the Wizards gave him, because that's the going rate these days. But, it would've made more sense for him to take the $127M, and give the $27M extra to some charity or somewhere, and keep his mouth closed instead of parading like it's all about me, me, me...

[Wizardspride]

I don't have an issue with the $ the Wizards gave him, because that's the going rate these days. But, it would've made more sense for him to take the $127M, and give the $27M extra to some charity or somewhere, and keep his mouth closed instead of parading like it's all about me, me, me...

Ummm....you do know that Gilbert Arenas is extremely charitable...right?

And if Gil would have taken the $127M and gave the extra $27M to charity the money would have still counted against the cap.

And by the way, I didn't interpret Gil's comments being all about himself. He just stated a fact.
He's said in the past that he didn't want to be like A.I. or KG in regards to taking up so much of the cap that the team could do nothing in the future to improve.

With all due respect, some people (particularly outside of the D.C. area) have a very false impression about the person that Gil really is.

Quirky and immature at times....absolutely! Selfish and all about himself..nope.

[Flash3]

I don't have an issue with the $ the Wizards gave him, because that's the going rate these days. But, it would've made more sense for him to take the $127M, and give the $27M extra to some charity or somewhere, and keep his mouth closed instead of parading like it's all about me, me, me...

Ummm....you do know that Gilbert Arenas is extremely charitable...right?

And if Gil would have taken the $127M and gave the extra $27M to charity the money would have still counted against the cap.

I didn't say he had to, or he should've, by no means was I saying that......

But, I personally would have had less of an issue with his comments had he not made them in the 1st place; instead of it being on me, me, me, it should've been on the team....

But, hey, that's the loving nature of Gilbert, I guess.

[Wizardspride]

I didn't say he had to, or he should've, by no means was I saying that......

But, I personally would have had less of an issue with his comments had he not made them in the 1st place; instead of it being on me, me, me, it should've been on the team....

But, hey, that's the loving nature of Gilbert, I guess.

Perhaps you haven't read enough of his comments about this situation. I'll post them.

Gilbert Arenas quotes:

"I looked at like this: There is nothing I can do for my family with $127 million that I can't do with $111 million," said Arenas, who is traveling in Asia and Europe for two weeks as part of a promotional tour for a shoe company. "I mean, college is expensive but it ain't that dang expensive. Now, we have room to add a piece. There is a window of opportunity for us. Adding key pieces leads to championships and that's what we all want."

"The main thing is that I didn't want to just take the big contract and then be sitting there in the same position [Kevin Garnett] was in when he was with Minnesota, making all that money but the team couldn't put any pieces around him to win a championship. I talked to him about that, and I didn't want that to happen here.


"This way, I'm still getting paid a lot of money and we can make the moves we need to make. I want to win a championship here in D.C. I want to have a parade that goes right past the White House. Me and Barack Obama. How cool would that be? I really think that with the players we already have and with a couple of moves, we can do it."

Arenas also said he was influenced by a phone conversation he had with Pollin before the player's trip to China.

"It just gave me reassurance," said Arenas, who accepted a six-year, $65 million deal from Pollin in 2003. "He told me: 'When I picked you up five years ago, you're my guy and I meant that. You're the face of the Wizards. When you're out of the country walking down the street, I know that I have a fine young man representing me, this organization and the city of Washington to the fullest.'

"That really got me thinking. I mean, this man has given me over $170 million so what's $16 million now? If he's put that much belief in me without hesitating, why should I hesitate on what I need to do?"


You can make the argument that Gil is wrong about the Wiz being close to championship level but I don't read any selfishness in those comments.

[Flash3]

I didn't say he had to, or he should've, by no means was I saying that......

But, I personally would have had less of an issue with his comments had he not made them in the 1st place; instead of it being on me, me, me, it should've been on the team....

But, hey, that's the loving nature of Gilbert, I guess.

Perhaps you haven't read enough of his comments about this situation. I'll post them.

Gilbert Arenas quotes:

"I looked at like this: There is nothing I can do for my family with $127 million that I can't do with $111 million," said Arenas, who is traveling in Asia and Europe for two weeks as part of a promotional tour for a shoe company. "I mean, college is expensive but it ain't that dang expensive. Now, we have room to add a piece. There is a window of opportunity for us. Adding key pieces leads to championships and that's what we all want."

"The main thing is that I didn't want to just take the big contract and then be sitting there in the same position [Kevin Garnett] was in when he was with Minnesota, making all that money but the team couldn't put any pieces around him to win a championship. I talked to him about that, and I didn't want that to happen here.


"This way, I'm still getting paid a lot of money and we can make the moves we need to make. I want to win a championship here in D.C. I want to have a parade that goes right past the White House. Me and Barack Obama. How cool would that be? I really think that with the players we already have and with a couple of moves, we can do it."

Arenas also said he was influenced by a phone conversation he had with Pollin before the player's trip to China.

"It just gave me reassurance," said Arenas, who accepted a six-year, $65 million deal from Pollin in 2003. "He told me: 'When I picked you up five years ago, you're my guy and I meant that. You're the face of the Wizards. When you're out of the country walking down the street, I know that I have a fine young man representing me, this organization and the city of Washington to the fullest.'

"That really got me thinking. I mean, this man has given me over $170 million so what's $16 million now? If he's put that much belief in me without hesitating, why should I hesitate on what I need to do?"


You can make the argument that Gil is wrong about the Wiz being close to championship level but I don't read any selfishness in those comments.

This summary, sheds a different light on his comments that does the piece a page or two ago.....

[Wizardspride]

This summary, sheds a different light on his comments that does the piece a page or two ago.....

I can understand how you viewed Gil based off of what was posted a few pages ago.

As usual things can be taken out of context.

[queridiculo]

An MLE contract is around 6mill. Arenas didnt give any discount when you figure in the differance between the last yr of his old contract and 1st yr of new contract. The Net discount is = to the LLE.

Projected numbers have the Wizards around $5.3 million under the luxury tax threshold. Had Arenas taken the max that number would be around $3 million.

Does it make more sense to you now?