Ken Berger of CBSSports.com says the Orlando Magic were indeed interested in trading for Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas this summer, but financial concerns "killed the deal." Citing "sources with knowledge of the situation," Berger says "the framework of a trade hat would've sent Arenas to the Magic with Vince Carter going to the Wizards was arranged."
Rumors linking the Magic to Arenas, a three-time All-Star who owns a career 22.7 points per game average, surfaced in January, shortly after Arenas pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges for bringing a gun into the Wizards' locker room. Magic GM Otis Smith is close friends with Arenas from their time together with the Golden State Warriors.
Berger's report essentially confirms what Michael Lee wrote earlier this summer about talks between the Magic and Wizards, though Lee's language implied Washington called Orlando to ask about Carter, while Berger's is more ambiguous on that front.
Arenas is owed more than $80 million over the next four seasons, according to ShamSports. He has drastically altered his personality since re-joining the Wizards, becoming business-like to a fault. He's also grown a scraggly beard and refuses to smile, a change that's readily evident in Dan Steinberg's comparison of his career media-ay portraits. To date myself with a rather old internet meme, Gilbert Arenas does change facial expressions.