Gilbert briefly mentions a book by Will Leitch of Deadspin in his latest blog: Have you seen the new book that came out, God Save the Fan? Will Leitch came out with the book. Thank you Will Leitch! Got to give a shout out to Will Leitch and Deadspin for coming out with the book God Save the Fan. I'm just going to tell you guys to go get the book, because I'm in Chapter 2. I picked it up today and immediately read the chapter about Gilbert and LeBron. It is definitely an interesting read and even if you don’t want to buy... lire la suite
Gilbert briefly mentions a book by Will Leitch of Deadspin in his latest blog: I picked it up today and immediately read the chapter about Gilbert and LeBron. It is definitely an interesting read and even if you don’t want to buy the book, you should at least read the Gilbert chapter (6 pages) at your local bookstore, if you get a chance. ... in twenty years, when we think of LeBron James, we will think of Gatorade, and when we think of Gilbert Arenas, we will smile and think of ourselves.
LeBron James got the best of Kobe Bryant last night 94-90.
Chris Webber and Don Nelson Reunion? Tiger Dominates Buick; Roger Clemens Goes Damage Control; LeBron James Sends Kobe and the Lakers On ASlide NBA leading scorer LeBron James is becoming deftly unstoppable. The difference between he and Kobe is Bron Bron’s ability to bully himself into the lane-after grabbing a rebound on the other end-and scoring while getting to the line in the process. I truly think the cat could average 30 and 15 as a power forward. In yesterday’s match up with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, James scored 41 to lead the Cavs to a 98-95 win in Los Angeles. At times he overshadowed Kobe in his own house. The Lakers have lost three straight and have cause for concern considering how injuries are beginning to take their toll. Kobe scored 33 had 12 rebounds and 6 dimes. After LeBron hit two free throws to go up three, the Lakers inexplicably did not get off a potential game tying shot: On the other end, LeBron and the Cavs look to make a decent run to reclaim last year’s playoff luster. James is hovering around 30 points a game, almost eight rebounds and 8 assists-seventh in the league.
We knew a year ago that Gilbert Arenas was going to opt out of his contract this offseason, but now that he officially submitted the paperwork,it's a good time to go over the possibilities forhis summer as a free agent. Things got infinently more complicated this year because of theinjury, whereasbefore he likely would have signeda maximum contract with the Wizards right away.Now, a maximum contract is certainly not a given, and to make matters more interesting,Arenas has said he'd take less money if it meant that Antawn Jamison would return. So what could happen to Arenas this offseason? Here's a list of important questions and factors that will have an impact on what ultimately happens this offseason. One such exception is the Larry Bird exception, which pertains directly to Arenas. Theoretically, any other team could offer him that, but they must be that far under the salary cap (and not the luxury tax) to do it. The Wizards, on the other hand, can offer Arenas any amount of money up until the maximum salary no matter their cap situation. This is known as the Larry Bird exception. Additionally, the Wizards are the only team that can offer Arenas a six-year contract. All other teams can do no better than five years. Why can Arenas opt out of his current contract? After winning the Most Improved Player award in his second season with Golden State in 2002-03, Arenas became a free agent. Second-round picks become unrestricted free agents after their second season. In 2003,Arenas became what's known as an "Early Bird" free agent, meaning the Warriors, if they were over the salary cap (as they were at the time),could only offer his as much as the mid-level exception, otherwise known as the NBA's average salary. After his breakout season, Arenas was worth far more than that, so he instead signed a six-year 65-million-dollar deal with the Wizards after rejecting more money from the Los Angeles Clippers. (This loophole has since been closed via the "Gilbert Arenas" Provision, whichlimits the amount of money teams can spend on second-round free agents). The Wizards have three free agents: Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Roger Mason. Excluding those three players, the Wizards combined salary is 42,165,117 (the page says 54 million, but that includes Arenas' final-year salary on his old deal, which should be taken away). That gives them about 16 million dollars under the salary cap and about 30 million under the luxury tax, meaning that the only way they could sign a major free agent would be to dump both Arenas and Jamison. Keep that in mind when you hear fans complaining that we need to forget Gilbert and use his money to sign another big star. To do that, we'd have to get rid of both Arenas and Jamison. Alright, so what's the most Arenas could make? Arenas' major goal, of course, is to secure a maximum contract, and the best way he can do that would be to re-sign with the Wizards. The value of a maximum contract depends on the figure of the salary cap and the number of years the player has been in the league. Arenas just finished his seventh season, which is perfect for him, because the maximum salary for players that have 7-9 years of service is larger than the salary of players who have been in the league for six years of fewer. Last year, the maximum first-year salary of a seven-year veteran was $15,649,500. That total is supposed to be just under 30 percent of the cap, meaning that if the salary cap is around 57 million, thena max salary would actually be16.4 million. (I came up with that myself, so let me know if that figure is wrong). That's the most Arenas can make in his first seson. His salary can increase by 10.5 percentin each subsequent season, and 10.5 percent of 16.4 million is 1,722,000. If each season increases by that much,a six-year maximum contract for Arenas would be for just over 124 million dollars. That's the maximum that Arenas can make, and since no team will be more than 16.4 million dollars under the cap (except maybe Philadelphia if they don't extend qualifying offers to Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams) he can only makethe maximumwith the Wizards, unless... This is the only way that Arenas can secure a max contract and play for another team. If there is a team out there that wants Arenas for the maximum contract, they can negotiate with him and work out a scenario where the Wizards sign him for six years (so that his Larry Bird rights are fulfilled) and then trade him for players of equal salary (unless it's to a team with cap room, but not enough to sign Arenas outright. In this scenario, the team could match salary up until the salary, and the remaining money would give the Wizards a trade exception, which they could use to trade for a single player, a la Indiana and Al Harrington or Charlotte and Jason Richardson). In this scenario, though, the Wizards could get solid players back for Arenas, which is why it's really the only way Arenas isn't going to be here. Who would make this trade? I can't tell you for sure, obviously. For example, Ivan Carter mentioned the Lakers and Orlando as darkhorses for Arenas in a recent blog post. The Lakers seem pretty farfetched, because Arenas could only sign for the mid-level exception and they aren't trading anyone for him. Orlando, on the other hand, could theoretically offer Rashard Lewis straight up, or they could trade Hedo Turkoglu (6.8 million), Jameer Nelson (7.6 million), and J.J. Redick (2.1 million). I doubt the Wizards do either of those trades, but those are possibilities. Others will present themselves over the course of the offseason, but keep in mind, if Arenas is to be a max player for another team, the Wizards are guaranteed to get some players back in a sign and trade. The worry is that Arenas will end up like Hill. It's not the same situation, but the paranoia is understandable. Alright, so no max for Gilbert. What can he get? Undoubtedly, Arenas wants more money than he had made before. His salary for 2008-09 under his old deal is 12.8 million, meaning he'd like a starting salary somewhere between 12.8 million and 16.4 million. That doesn't give the Wizards much wiggle room, but it's a little more that people think. Carter wrote that he expects the Wizards to eventually offer the maximum, but I wouldn't be too sure of that. Arenas could accept a contract with a starting offer of 14 million and still make much more money than his previous deal. My guess is that Arenas gets a contract somewhere between 14 and 15 million in his first year. Accounting for 10.5 percent raises, that would be a six-year deal for between 106 and 114 million dollars total. We could make the raises smaller and less proportional, but either way, Arenas' salary will probably be over 100 million. If we sign Arenas starting at 14 million and Jamison for a deal starting at 11 million, we'd have about 5 million dollars, or most of our mid-level exception, to use before we hit the luxury tax. However, if you add in the compensation for first- and second-round draft picks, plus the annual rasies that other players receive, that number drops to about 3 million, or roughly half of the mid-level exception. The Wizards could always dump a role player for a similar one that makes less money, or they could renounce Dominic McGuire for just under one million dollars, but I don't think they'll find much of a market for their role players and it would be foolish to cut McGuire. But even at 14 million, no other team will likely have that amount to woo Gilbert, and even if they do (the Clippers and Philadelphia might), they could only offer five years. Gilbert wants security, so my guess is he won't accept anything but a six-year deal. It's a risk either way. If the Wizards re-sign Gilbert, they will probably have to pay over 100 million for six years, and that's a lot to invest in someone coming off two knee surgeries. If the Wizards choose to not re-sign Gilbert, they'll have to explore sign-and-trades, and considering Arenas' recent injury history, I doubt too many teams will be offering enticing packages for him. I definitely think the Wizards should see what Arenas' sign-and-trade market is like, but barring any offers that blow them away, they should re-sign him, but not for the maximum contract. Arenas is entering a free agent market that doesn't have any teams willing to pay him straight up. His only way of making as much money as possible is to sign with the Wizards, unless he wants to hold out in order to force a sign-and-trade, which practically never happens in the NBA (I can't think of anyone who has ever held out). His recent comments suggesting he'd take less money if it meant the Wizards would re-sign Jamison don't help his cause either. Gilbertmight end up disappointed, but Ernie Grunfeld is in the driver's seat here, and should be careful not to offer too much too soon. A deal in the 14-15 million range for the first season should satisfy all parties. Gilbert gets a raise, and Ernie doesn't have to invest in a max contract for him.
Just to be clear, here's how I understand how we got to today's news about Gilbert Arenas needing a third knee surgery. · According to the Washington Times, this debris that was removed today was present when Arenas shut things down in the playoffs last year · The same article says that Wizards doctors told Arenas that the debris "maybe would wash away by itself" with rest. That's probably where the "I'm not picking up a ball until August" statement comes from · Arenas listened to them instead of saying "hey wait a minute, maybe I should get this fixed now. These guys don't exactly have the best track record. Maybe I should get a second opinion." · In August, Arenas started working out again, and that's when he presumably found the debris hadn't actually gone away. If not that, then perhaps more debris arrived when he decided to work out again and found his knee hadn't been ready · According to the Washington Post, Arenas "has been limited during the rehab process all summer and said he has planned all along on not participating in training camp or the preseason." I'm not sure when he exactly knew he would have to miss training camp, but it's clear he knew well before today · In the Times story, Arenas said he didn't feel the need to tell Ernie Grunfeld and Eddie Jordan about the surgery. Mike Jones said Arenas said it wasn't an issue, even though the subsequent quote doesn't exactly correspond with that · Grunfeld now says that the Wizards expected that Arenas might not be ready for the start of the season even when they signed him to a contract extension My first question is, why in God's name did the Wizards doctors think rest was a good idea after the 2008 playoffs? Like, I understand that Arenas was a free agent, so they didn't want to run the risk of helping a player who could just sign with another team. But all the Wizards were saying then was how they were going to re-sign Arenas no matter the cost. If they were so sure, I don't see the point of not operating on him. Perhaps the Wizards were concerned about the bad PR of signing a guy to a six-year deal when he's having another knee surgery, but there was going to be bad PR about the re-signing anyway, whether Arenas was under the knife or not. The second thing that gets me is why Arenas didn't just get surgery from an outside doctor when the Wizards were telling him to rest. Many guys have done that; the first that comes to mind is Charles Barkley after his back was dead in the 1994 playoffs. Did Arenas really not consider for a second that perhaps the Wizards doctors told him to rest because he was going to opt-out and become a free agent? Why would the Wizards operate on him if he could have just gone elsewhere? They wouldn't operate on someone who isn't their property, after all. (As a sidenote, I realize those two points sound contradictory, but I assure you they aren't. Arenas shouldn't have assumed at the time the Wizards wanted him all along just because they said so, and the Wizards should have just insisted on surgery then because clearly they did actually want Arenas all along). Similarly, if Arenas had the surgery then, it'd quench some doubts about his ability to return from knee surgery, since this procedure seems pretty typical. Maybe that increases his market value. Whatever. So Arenas rests for three months, goes to China, etc. etc. Fine. It's easy to say "wow, look how lazy he was after signing his contract," but if he was told to rest by a medical professional, he should listen. But if his rehab wasn't going well in August, why did he want until September 17 to have surgery? Someone should have checked to see if the debris was still there in August. If it was, the surgery should have occured then, not now. If it happened then, Arenas would be back by the start of the season. Instead, one month and 17 days after he was supposed to first start touching a basketball, he's having surgery again. If Ernie Grunfeld really knew Arenas was struggling with his rehab all along, why didn't he demand that Gilbert have surgery? Arenas' is the Wizards' property; if he's asked to have surgery on his knee, he has to obey. More importantly, why didn't Arenas himself come to this conclusion earlier. Actually, I know the answer to that: he's stubborn as hell. Ask anyone who saw him play at Barry Farms last summer. It's also unfathomable to me that Arenas thinks he doesn't have to tell his GM and head coach that he's having surgery. Are you serious, Gilbert? We went through this already when you surprised Eddie with your return, and that wasn't okay. Now, the organization invests all this money in you, and you think you don't need to tell people directly? That's ridiculous. It's possible Jones took something Arenas said out of context, because the quote Arenas gives doesn't say anything about not telling Grunfeld or Jordan, but if not, that part of the story makes me mad. There were all these chances for one of the parties to insist on having surgery earlier. It could have happened in May. It could have happened in early August. It could have even happened in July after the contract was finalized, though you can imagine the kind of outrage that news would have received. Any of the parties could have insisted on surgery. Arenas could have seeked a second opinion in May. The doctors could have operated in May or in August. Grunfeld could have insisted himself on the surgery when he first heard about Arenas' rehab struggles. Finally, Arenas could have not be his usual stubborn self when he first started struggling and just gotten the procedure over with. It's very possible this amounts to very little and Arenas returns fully healthy and back to his dominant self. It's true that this is a routine and minor procedure for guys who had microfracture surgery -- Amare Stoudamire had it, Jason Kidd had it -- and that most of the time, the player returns normally. It's also true that the Wizards have faced this situation before, so the remaining players know how to adapt. That's fine, but that doesn't change the fact that this could have happened sooner. I don't care if the Wizards can "survive" without Arenas; I'm not interested in "surviving." I'm interested about thriving, taking the next step, contending, however you want to put it. And that can't happen without Arenas on the floor.
TNT Notes November 20: Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James; Allen Iverson and Carmello Anthony Go Off Barkley on the match-up of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant facing Cavaliers forward LeBron James: “This is what I call an ‘ego game.’ When Magic Johnson played against Larry Bird, it was a special game; when Michael Jordan played against Magic or Bird, it was a special game. When I played against Dominique (Wilkins) or Patrick Ewing I wanted to play better than that guy.” Barkley on superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James: “These are the two best players (LeBron James and Kobe Bryant) in the NBA, no doubt about that. Kobe is superman, but LeBron is tugging on his cape.” TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed Cavs forward LeBron James after the Cavs win over the Lakers. James on the Cavs stepping up their defensive efforts: “Coach got on us. You want to respond when a coach gets on you and he got on us bad about our defensive efforts. We found a way to get some defensive stops in the end and we got a big win.” Barkley on Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony needing to expand his game: “(Carmelo Anthony) is a good player; he’s not a superstar player. If he’s not making shots, he can’t do anything else to help the team win and that’s when his flaws show. If Magic Johnson wasn’t making shots he was getting assist and rebounds; Michael Jordan was the best defender. (Anthony) is not a walking triple-double like LeBron (James) or Jason Kidd. That’s the one thing that disturbs me about young players who don’t do anything else, they just fill up one stat.”
Yahoo! Sports has a list of the Top 40 Sports Figures of 2007. Gilbert Arenas finished #5 overall and #1 in terms of basketball players. 5. Gilbert Arenas (7)
TNT NBA Notes December 27: LeBron James And The Cavs Win A Big Game On Road Cavaliers forward LeBron James response to critics predicting that the Cavaliers won’t make the playoffs this season: “People have their opinions and (the Cavaliers) have to keep proving people wrong and at the same time, we have to go out as professional athletes and continue to get better. We don’t come into the season at this point talking about making the playoffs; we want to win the Championship. Right now, we’re not at a level to win a Championship.” Barkley on the Cavaliers disappointing season thus far: “(The Cavaliers) are very fortunate that Miami and Chicago (are having bad seasons). LeBron (James) is terrific, (after) Kobe Bryant, (James) is the second best player in the league right now. (The Cavaliers) making it to the (2007 NBA) Finals was the biggest fluke ever. They still haven’t addressed the point guard or the outside shooting situation. Until they get LeBron some help, they are just wasting time.” LeBron James on the Cavaliers’ defensive inconsistencies: “Right now, defensively, we’re not consistent. When we defend, we’re a very good team. When we don’t defend, we don’t look (good). If we can find a way to be more consistent on the defensive end, then you are going to see the team that beat Miami and that beat L.A. (Lakers). Not the team that loses to teams they shouldn’t lose to.”
Victime d'une entorse de la cheville, LeBron James n'a pas joue la nuit derniere et pourrait etre sur le flanc une semaine.