Rumor: Orlando Magic a Potential Destination for Gilbert Arenas
by Evan Dunlap on Jan 16, 2010 11:10 PM EST
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PrintAccording to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Orlando Magic will be interested in obtaining exiled Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas--who pled guilty to felony weapons charges in Washington, D.C. yesterday--"when the time comes."
Stein's sources within the league say Magic general manager Otis Smith, a part of the Golden State Warriors' front-office staff when they selected Arenas in the 2001 NBA Draft, "continues to be one of Arenas' closest confidantes in the league."
More from Stein:
Sources thus say it’s a virtual certainty, given the depth of their friendship, that Arenas will lobby Smith to be the GM who looks past the damage this incident has done to Gil's reputation and grants his comeback chance.
But how can the Magic make a play for Arenas, whose contract runs for 4 more years and $80.2 million after this one? And how can the Magic make room for Arenas, a ball-dominating point guard, when they already have four All-Stars who need shots? Stein didn't offer specifics on either count, but he is "convinced" that Orlando will consider the idea, especially if the Magic continue to underachieve. He points to "the summer of 2010" as a potential time for Orlando's next "roster shake-up" to occur.
Via the Orlando Sentinel, here's comment from Smith on Arenas the day after NBA Commissioner David Stern announced Arenas' indefinite suspension:
"Nothing surprises me anymore, but yeah, I’m a little bit surprised because he’s smarter than that."
Smith has a long-standing policy of not signing or trading for anyone with character issues. When asked during the 2008 free-agency period about the chances of signing Jamaal Tinsley or Stephon Marbury to bolster the Magic's point guard depth, Smith shook his head and told Brian Schmitz, "You know me."
Arenas is a bit different, though. As David Steele of NBA FanHouse (not to be confused with the Magic broadcaster of the same name) has written, Arenas is more of a goofball than a thug. And Smith knows Arenas personally, whereas he didn't know Tinsley or Marbury.
I suspect we haven't heard the last of this rumor.
UPDATE: Schmitz has more on the relationship between Smith and Arenas here. He reports that Smith has spoken to Arenas twice lately and advised him to delete his Twitter account.
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prove it...lol
"Blue and white...ignite...BOOOM! - Dwight Howard
by magic12ball on Jan 16, 2010 11:45 PM EST up reply actions
If his wizards contract is voided...
Would his next team (whoever it happens to be) have to absorb his existing wiz contract onto their books?
Logic tells me, that if it voided, Gil has no contract, is an unrestricted free agent, and could be bought for the MLE if that’s the best he was offered.
Bleeding Blue Black and Silver for 20 of my 23 years.
by FLYNN47 on Jan 16, 2010 7:22 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Ya, I read the contract voiding is not likely.
by derekk on Jan 16, 2010 7:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
why not?
pleading to a felony, jail time, and beyond that, the ugly facts of bringing guns to work and brandishing them at a coworker. if thats not an offense of “moral turpitude,” what is? if the wizards don’t try to void his deal, their counsel should be fired.
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 18, 2010 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
that explains the motivation of one of many parties opposed to voiding
but does not explain why the wizards cannot legally void the deal
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 18, 2010 9:48 PM EST up reply actions
I mean, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Latrell Sprewell, et al. managed to stay in the league, and what they did was worse.
(IMO, anyway)
But the consensus I’ve read is that the Wiz won’t succeed in voiding the deal. They’ll try, but fail.
Their situations may not be so relevant
1) I dont know if the CBA in place at the time of the Artest, Jackson (much less the Sprewell) incidents had the same “Moral turpitude” language as does the current CBA. Different contracts, different rules of course.
2) Its not an issue of Gilbert staying in the league, its an issue of the Wizards voiding his deal. He will be free to sign with whatever team he wants post-voiding (and suspension and incarceration).
3) Its about the options available. Was the value of Artest and Jackson so far out of whack with their salaries as is the current situation with Arenas? I doubt it , they didn’t have enormous deals, they weren’t facing possible permanent decline after serious injury, and, ultimately, Artest and Jackson brought back decent (if inferior) players in trades. Arenas, on the other hand, with his health situation and obscene contract, looks like a possible Grant Hill redux. And every other GM in the league knows it. I don’t see any palatable trades on the horizon for the Wizards, leaving contract cancellation as the best option. Of course Arenas will fight it, he has $80 million on the line. So do the Wizards.
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 18, 2010 9:57 PM EST up reply actions
I haven't seen anyone anywhere who's able to explain why the contract is unlikely to be voided.
My guess is though that you’ve hit on the right issue – the definition of the term moral turpitude. In most states, crimes are said to either involve or not involve moral turpitude. The significance of that classifcation mostly relates to whether evidence of prior crimes is admissible to impeach a witness. Only crimes of moral turpitude can be used to demonstrate that a witness might be inclined to lie. Crimes of moral turpitude are mostly those that involve an element of dishonesty in the commission of the crime itself. So fraud, embezzellment, theft, and things of that sort are crimes of moral turpitude. But things like assault/battery usually aren’t. Carrying unlicensed weapons almost certainly isn’t either. My guess is that the lawyers think that because Arenas’ crime isn’t a moral turpitude offense, his contract isn’t subject to the NBA’s moral turpitude clause. But what I don’t get is why it’s a given that the NBA clause necessarily assumes the technical meaning of moral turpitude used in evidence codes across the country. There’s nothing in the NBA rule saying ‘we adopt the meaning of moral turpitude as used in federal rule of evidence . . .’ for instance. I don’t get why the Wizards wouldn’t try to argue that as used in the NBA’s rule, moral turpitude has it’s ordinary English meaning. With $80 plus million on the line, it would seem to be worth a shot.
Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times just field (like, 25 minutes ago) this story about the chances of Arenas' deal being voided.
The largest hurdle the Wizards could face, according to [Gabriel] Feldman, is one created by N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern when he suspended Arenas indefinitely. The collective bargaining agreement forbids separate punishments from the league and a team for the same incident — the N.B.A.’s version of the legal system’s double jeopardy. Also, the N.B.A.’s penalty supersedes that of any the team imposes.
[….]
In order to bypass the double-penalty clause, the Wizards could argue that Arenas is not being punished twice for the same action. They could claim that Stern suspended Arenas for his actions after the incident — joking about it on his Twitter page and pantomiming firing a gun at his teammates before a game — but not for the crime.
But the longer the indefinite suspension extends, [law professor Geoffrey] Rapp said, the less likely an arbitrator will agree that Stern’s decision did not stem from the original incident.
Definitely worth a read.
by Evan Dunlap on Jan 18, 2010 10:10 PM EST up reply actions
Echoing what others have said and I'm actually studying this in a Sports class at Northwestern.
The chances that Gilbert Arenas’ contract gets voided are 1%, if that.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
He’s got a ton of top notch lawyers. He built his case and plea bargain to help insure his contract is safe. And there’s a Players Union that certainly has some influence to make sure the contract is safe. Just too many things pointing to his contract not getting void. Maybe if the judge completely goes away from the court reccomendation.
by derekk on Jan 16, 2010 7:41 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
LOL, I sense some sarcasm.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
why?
he pled guilty to a felony, a crime involving taking guns into the workplace and displaying them in a manner that could have incited a firefight (see crittendon’s reaction). i dont understand the cavalier attitude from all the non-lawyers in the media…in what world are these not serious offenses?
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 18, 2010 7:18 PM EST up reply actions
No thank you and also not enough information. Jameer is better and less injury prone to me. Blending Arenas back into the Wiz has failed, he was pretty decent but nothing like he was before either and the Wiz needed that old Arenas or atleast develop a better chemistry with his current playing and they couldn’t. I’m not blaming on Arenas alone but it’s clear he’s not really efficient either. Folding early in the season again should do his health some wonders but he literally can’t play ball for like a year or more. He may not be free to play even in the summer. We don’t have enough information in the sense that I feel as of right now, Orlando may shake up the roster this year or summer and don’t know any ideas of what would exactly fit. Any number of players can be gone, and Im ok with Jameer at point. I’d rather get a star wing who is young like Dwight before VC enters 35, 36 yrs old! I could see Arenas fitting in a weird sense because Jameer plays a scorer an when he was at his best last season, the Magic looked really, really sharp as a whole also. But my general feelings is no thank you on Gilbert Arenas.
by derekk on Jan 16, 2010 7:38 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Jameer better? really? lol...
"Blue and white...ignite...BOOOM! - Dwight Howard
by magic12ball on Jan 16, 2010 10:50 PM EST up reply actions
jamer isn better. maybe a better fit, but in a pure better basketball player arenas wins in a landslide
by nickswarriors16 on Jan 16, 2010 11:45 PM EST up reply actions
I think if we compared their careers, Arenas wins. But I like to compare what’s happened now and what’s it going to be like in the future. Jameer was playing better than Arenas by far just last season, and he’s a proven fit; in fact the Magic were at their best because of Jameer and the rest of the team chemistry. Now you look at their futures. Jameer is younger. They both have injury histories, but Jameer has yet to repeat a moderate to serious injury in the same area of his body. We know that Jameer is still recovering from his knee surgery. It’s the kind of injury that holds a player down from playing at full speed for a while. We can only hope that it’s on the way to a full recovery and that Jameer can regain his full aggressiveness and shooting prowess. Now you look at Arenas. What is it with him? Like 3 surgeries in the same area alone all in the past 18 months or so? He’s kind of been Orlando’s version of Grant Hill for the Wiz. He was a monster force long ago, but he seems past it. He can only be like Grant Hill and hope to stay healthy, making us wonder if he can consistently play, can he fit in with Magic team?, can he reach his prime ever again or is it just always an Arenas that was 60% of himself before. Both players may seem to have cloudy futures, but I’ll take Jameer 10 times out of 10 going forward than Arenas. And yes, If Jameer reaches his last season form ever again, that level of play trumps Arenas any day of the week imho. Think all you want, I know the Magic are slumping right now so it’s hard to like Jameers or most of the starters/All Stars’ level of play recently, but try to think through it all objectively. Say no thanks, keep working on our team chemistry and working through the slump. Trade for players if they must, but get some with futures. I don’t like the thought of 30 year olds Arenas and Carter when there’s younger stars to be developed inside the Magic or can be traded for imo.
Arenas is better but derekk makes a number of good points in his explanation.
Some of which I agree with.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
I like it.
With Arenas, they can address their one weakness: firearm related incidents.
Maricòn, tapette, busone, пидар, shoga, pederasta, homofiel, schwul.
Yes, it's always been my view that the path to the championship must involve excrement and irresponsible handling of guns.
"Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning. That’s just common sense! "-George Carlin
by Diosnomeama on Jan 17, 2010 10:51 AM EST up reply actions
LOL
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Gilbert? NO thanks..
I don’t anyone on the team that defecates in his teammates shoes.. We lack leadership, last thing I want to see on this team is bad leadership..
FEED THE BEAST!!!
Twitter Account
Agreed.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Unlikely, yes.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
This would make no sense, financially, chemistry or competitive wise at all
"Don't wait till im gone to say I was the best"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive...
Still miss em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvgVn0gg1E
by Wasabi Steak on Jan 17, 2010 3:23 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Basically.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Well said.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
You know, I like Arenas.
I wouldn’t call him the most mature guy in the NBA, but I also feel like he’s not a guy who would be a major off-court problem. (Maybe a bit of a distraction given what just happened, but that would die down eventually.) He’s flaky but essentially harmless.
That much having been said, we don’t have enough shots to go around now. I think if this had happened last year, “Arenas or Carter?” would’ve been a perfectly reasonable question. (Personally, I see Arenas as more a SG than a PG.) But even if we could make the salaries work, there’s no way he’d fit into the team as it stands now.
It's a good thing Larry Bird's initials weren't MJ. '80s basketball was confusing enough -- Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Marles Jarkley, Mominique Jilkins... Makeem Jolajuwon...
Ben and I talk about the Arenas possibility in OPP's first-ever podcast!
Shameless plug, I know.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Character and Money
I guess since Rich DeVos has started to dip into the luxury tax for the first time, it would make (some) sense to think maybe the Magic would start signing players with character problems. However, I find that very unlikely.
No matter whether Arenas is a “thug” or a prankster, this is the kind of bad judgment and characters Orlando has ALWAYS looked to avoid. It is a fun rumor, nothing more. Marc Stein is probably just reading into a previous relationship between Otis Smith and Arenas. I do not see much coming out of it.
As Smith always says, when a player with that much talent (whether he fits or not), you have to at least look at it.
Philip,
The Curse of the Big Aristotle
http://bigaristotle.blogspot.com/
Yeah, it'd be foolish not to look into it.
But looking into it and being serious about a move are two different things.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
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