Agent Zero ?

[geeman]

If Washington does cut ties with Gilbert Arenas this summer (buyout) would he be an option for us at
PG? How would a backcourt of Arenas/Crawford look at the end of a game?

[AFunk]

Simple no.

[theatlfan]

have to agree with afunk. after the mike vick situation with the falcons, it'll be a loooong time before any atl team will take a chance on a criminal.

[BAMABIRD]

I say go for it.. Wouldn't be much defense from the guards but maybe the new coach would have a good defensive scheme. Arenas is really not a bad guy, nowhere near the Vick type.

[evildallas]

Do you remember that he looked like a shell of himself on the court before his suspension? He's got the worst contract in basketball right now. Even without the PR baggage he's a bad move.

[parson]

Ignoring his off-the-court problems, look at his on-the-court history, especially his career .426 shooting %. I don't know if he'll ever play on a contender. He shoots, scores a lot of points, makes a lot of money, loses more games than he wins. He's Allen Iverson all over again.

I'm not a fan.

[azuresou1]

Arenas' career TS is .553, which is pretty comparable to Kobe's career .557. I'm not a huge fan of Kobe, but his scoring is not an issue.

I wouldn't trade for Arenas, but IF Washington buys him out, as is the rumor, I think he'd be a decent signing for the MLE for 2-3 years.

[Harry10]

sure! at the right price, espeically if he can replace Bibby.

Arenas is like the new Rasheed, or Zach Randolph, or Artest, or Crawford.... bad rap in the media and yuppy fans, but put him in a good situation and everybody forgets the bad attitude that everything imagines he has.

[evildallas]

sure! at the right price, espeically if he can replace Bibby.

Arenas is like the new Rasheed, or Zach Randolph, or Artest, or Crawford.... bad wrap in the media and yuppy fans, but put him in a good situation and everybody forgets the bad attitude that everything imagines he has.

Signing a bought out Arenas would reek of gimmick and desperation especially for a team that didn't exactly show a lot of heart in the playoffs. Whether or not you think he's a bad guy, one thing you can't dispute was that he exhibited poor judgment. I wouldn't want to be a fan of a team that brings him in.

As for your other examples: Rasheed Wallace phoned in two straight playoffs with Detroit and the whole regular season for Boston before decided he wanted to play the last couple weeks. That's not misunderstood, that's a lot of bad names I could call, but let me settle for saying that I wouldn't want season tickets for a team with Rasheed. Randolph's off the court issues were a long time ago and possibly the result of having knuckleheads setting examples on his team's roster with Portland. His later rep was for putting up meaningless numbers without helping his team win. Glad he finally seemed to get it in Memphis. Artest is insane and unpredictable. Sometimes that leads to bad things. I don't mind him nearly as much as the rest on the list because at least he's tough and the obvious crazy rarely influence others by example. Crawford shouldn't even be on the same list. I don't recall Crawford ever getting in trouble or portrayed as a bad person in the media. He just was constantly in the role of scorer with a bad team and never had the fortune of being with someone who could show him what else he was needed to do for the team to be a winner. Instead of Crawford you should have said Iverson or Marbury, but I understand you were trying to show success stories in the example and avoid those who've burned every last NBA bridge they had.

[Harry10]

Signing a bought out Arenas would reek of gimmick and desperation especially for a team that didn't exactly show a lot of heart in the playoffs. Whether or not you think he's a bad guy, one thing you can't dispute was that he exhibited poor judgment. I wouldn't want to be a fan of a team that brings him in.

As for your other examples: Rasheed Wallace phoned in two straight playoffs with Detroit and the whole regular season for Boston before decided he wanted to play the last couple weeks. That's not misunderstood, that's a lot of bad names I could call, but let me settle for saying that I wouldn't want season tickets for a team with Rasheed. Randolph's off the court issues were a long time ago and possibly the result of having knuckleheads setting examples on his team's roster with Portland. His later rep was for putting up meaningless numbers without helping his team win. Glad he finally seemed to get it in Memphis. Artest is insane and unpredictable. Sometimes that leads to bad things. I don't mind him nearly as much as the rest on the list because at least he's tough and the obvious crazy rarely influence others by example. Crawford shouldn't even be on the same list. I don't recall Crawford ever getting in trouble or portrayed as a bad person in the media. He just was constantly in the role of scorer with a bad team and never had the fortune of being with someone who could show him what else he was needed to do for the team to be a winner. Instead of Crawford you should have said Iverson or Marbury, but I understand you were trying to show success stories in the example and avoid those who've burned every last NBA bridge they had.

........ are you actually serious with this?!?

Am I wrong about this? I thought Jamal Crawford was a conscienceless chucker? More so than even Ben Gordon. He's also proven over time that he lacks worthwhile PG skills. Given his price tag and the similarities I would rather go after Gordon. However, all things considered I'd rather have someone who can take some of the workload off of Joe and also create for others like Hinrich, Jack, Calderon, or Blake.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=894683&start=30

i sure hope Sund is not making decisions on whether yuppy fans buy season tickets or not, and just get player that will help the team get more wins, like what the Lakers, Pistons, and Griz did.

[td00]

Agent 0 is more like Jermaine O'Neal....no matter what you get out of him, it will never justify what you are paying him.
He is becoming more like Iverson, who gets his points on bad teams and won't make another serious run in the playoffs.
He has his contract; he doesn't have a reason to excel more than he has.
Washington will be a mess as long as they keep him on that roster.
That contract alone should have gotten Grunfeld fired.

[killbuckner]

Dallas- I'd easily take Arenas at the MLE instead of Joe at the max.

[azuresou1]

Some of you are being unreasonable. You wouldn't take a waived Arenas who has everything to prove for the MLE? You know, the guy who wears number 0 because he didn't get any playing time and was a second round pick? Gilbert's not a bad guy. A dumbass? Sure. But I think he's learned his lesson - the guy just got suspended for the ENTIRE season and lost something like $10 MILLION in salary.

I can't see anyone reasonably saying that they would rather have Bibby at the point rather than Gilbert. Does Gilbert have his flaws, like questionable shot selection? Sure - but so do Kobe and Crawford. The talent level between Gilbert and Bibby at this point is vast.

If Joe does indeed walk, I think MLE Gilbert would be a good move, and I'm not even a big fan of the guy. He'd be a go-to scorer with a chip on his shoulder who spaces the floor well, gets to the line often, and sells tickets (which ASG would like).

[Harry10]

^ yeah i agree, what i hear is that the is not lazy like Starburry, he is one of those first ones in the gym and last one to leave type of guys, still has a chip on his shoulder for being a 2nd round pick. but i do agree with some guys above, the 2nd amendment is a joke, those DC laws are legit.

[td00]

It would be interesting but not many players talking about wanting to play in Atlanta.
Arenas might end up here, but it will have to be via trade.

He isn't selecting us over the entire NBA.

[HMFFL]

It would be interesting but not many players talking about wanting to play in Atlanta.
Arenas might end up here, but it will have to be via trade.

He isn't selecting us over the entire NBA.

During the past many players have openly said they'd like to play for us, but it comes down to our ownership, and not being flexible enough to pay the luxury tax. Sund and the ASG can say all day that they'll pay the luxury tax if it improves our team, but the only way I think it happens is if we acquire a top 10 talent. Players realize this, understand our cap situation, and realize joining our team most likely won't become a reality.

[evildallas]

........ are you actually serious with this?!?

Am I wrong about this? I thought Jamal Crawford was a conscienceless chucker? More so than even Ben Gordon. He's also proven over time that he lacks worthwhile PG skills. Given his price tag and the similarities I would rather go after Gordon. However, all things considered I'd rather have someone who can take some of the workload off of Joe and also create for others like Hinrich, Jack, Calderon, or Blake.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=894683&start=30

i sure hope Sund is not making decisions on whether yuppy fans buy season tickets or not, and just get player that will help the team get more wins, like what the Lakers, Pistons, and Griz did.[/quote]

How is being a shoot first player on the court the same thing as the other guys on your list that have all had off-court issues? Before we got Crawford I questioned his on-court skill set and ability to play within the system. Is there an off-court issue that I missed? I question Gilbert Arenas due to his off-court issues of judgment and what his knee injury has done to his on-court performance. It wasn't his first weapons charge and it wasn't his first knee injury.

I don't consider myself a "yuppy" as I'm not young, but I do factor a lot of things into whether I pay to support a team. When the Hawks traded for JR Rider, I stopped attending games in person until they drafted Josh Smith. I knew Rider wasn't still with the team, but his acquisition stopped me from even caring about the Hawks. Arenas isn't that bad and I won't lump him into that class, but I do worry about his level of off-court decision making affecting other players on the team as well as having concerns about how his skill drop off doesn't mesh with his perception of his role. I believe that chemistry matters. And I'm not keen on having Gilbert in the mix. On that I am serious.

[evildallas]

Dallas- I'd easily take Arenas at the MLE instead of Joe at the max.

I don't really want either high-priced Joe or marked down Gilbert. If my choice is just between the 2, then I take Gilbert on what is likely to be a shorter less expensive contract and the hope that he finally learned to fly right. I don't think adding Gilbert to the mix takes the Hawks any further than they currently go, but at a big discount it at least preserves flexibility. There are a lot of other ways I'd prefer to go than the Gilbert experiment though.

[parson]

Given that:
1) Some of us think Woodson's isolation-based attack hurt us....
2) Joe held onto the ball too often and too long....
3) As an all-around player, Arenas is an inferior to Joe... and
4) Arenas is perhaps the biggest ball-hog in the NBA....

...then maybe Arenas would hurt us even more?

[azuresou1]

Arenas is slightly worse than Joe at this point, but the difference is not very drastic. It certainly is not worth $11 million a year, the difference between the MLE and Joe's likely next contract. This is especially true when the MLE will be a 2-3 year deal, while Joe's contract will likely be 5. Also, Joe is a bad playoff performer, with a career 13.7 playoff PER. Gilbert doesn't have an extensive history, but his peak performance is far more impressive.

Gilbert's ballhogging is exaggerated. His USG% is not much higher than Joe's, and if he doesn't hold on to the ball that long. Consider Joe vs Gilbert's shot clock usage:

0-10 seconds: 32% vs 42%
11-15: 20% vs 31%
16-20: 27% vs 18%
21+: 21% vs 9%

Gilbert also has better passing rating than Joe, whether going by passing rating or AST%.