Arenas Needs to Show Wizards He's Worth The Money

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

A lot has happened since Gilbert Arenas was relevant on the basketball court:

The Celtics went from weeping over losing the lottery (Danny Ainge) to weeping over winning the championship (Kevin Garnett). Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo have jumped onto the point guard scene in the East, providing more competition in "who's the best point guard" conversations and for All-Star spots.

Arenas dropped from most sought-after for interviews to third on that list, behind Ron Artest and Shaquille O'Neal. Oh yeah, and Seattle lost its basketball team to Oklahoma City.

In other words, Arenas will be eager to establish his former on- and off-the-court prominence after being nothing more than injury news fodder for the last two years.

He needs to. Over that two year span, Arenas made $37 million for a grand total of 15 games and three surgeries. That's a lot of pain, not bang, for the Wizards' buck.

Agent Zero has four years ($74 million) left to show that contract wasn't an astronomical stroke of bad luck and/or judgement. He can start by leading Washington back to the playoffs.

That shouldn't be difficult in itself. After the big three of Boston, Orlando, and Cleveland, the field is wide open. Atlanta lacks a go-to guy, Miami lacks everything but, and everyone else is even worse off.

Arenas, meanwhile, is flanked by consistent All-Stars Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, young stud Nick Young, and newcomers Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Such talent makes the Wizards a good candidate to be a sleeper team come April.

The Wizards are still woefully thin in the middle, leaving them to hope other teams won't be able to keep up with their firepower. If Arenas can return to being the most feared scorer behind Kobe Bryant (and probably LeBron James and Dwyane Wade), it may be enough.

Enough meaning $111 million enough.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?