Tag: Washington Wizards (Page 11 of 11)

2008 NBA Preview: #16 Washington Wizards

Offseason Movement: The Wizards big move this offseason was to re-sign Gilbert Arenas to a huge contract (six years, $111 million). By doing so, they were able to keep their core of Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison together. It was a risky signing for the team given all the problems he has had with his balky knee.
Keep Your Eye On: Gilbert’s knee
Simply stated, if the Wizards can keep Arenas, Jamison and Butler healthy, they’re probably a playoff team. If they lose any one of those players for an extended period of time, they’ll struggle to make the postseason.
The Big Question: Was the Arenas signing the best thing for the Wizards?
One school of thought would to let Arenas and Jamison go (via free agency or trade) and build around the much more affordable Butler. But he’s 28, and by the time the Wizards were “rebuilt,” he’d be past his prime. The Wizards pretty much had to sign Arenas and Jamison and hope that another player or two (Andray Blatche, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, etc.) can emerge as a quality starter or role player. The Wizards aren’t going to have any salary cap room for a while, so they may be regretting this summer’s moves in two or three years when they’re still a .500 team and in cap hell.
Outlook: If all goes well, the Wizards will be safely in the playoffs. They’ll eventually lose in the first or second round. If a star gets injured for any length of time, they’ll miss the playoffs. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Gilbert Arenas out until December


The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas recently had a procedure to clean up his knee and will be out of action until December.

Gilbert Arenas confirmed that he underwent a surgical procedure this morning that “cleaned out some debris” in his left knee. Arenas, who has undergone two surgeries to repair the left knee in the last two seasons, 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.

Arenas, who signed a six-year, $111 million contract this summer, said he plans on returning to game action sometime in early December which would mean that he’d miss at least the season’s first month.

“I just had some floating debris in there that was slowing me down,” said Arenas, who seemed to be in good spirits. “It was irritating the knee so we decided to go in there and clean it out. This should actually allow me to come back faster.”

Clearly, this is a blow to the Wizards, who signed Arenas to that monster contract thinking he’d be ready to go at the start of the season. The bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff race is usually pretty tight, and Washington will be behind the eight ball from the start.

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