Will Wizards dump Arenas?

Citing multiple sources, reporter John Mitchell writes that the Wizards don’t Gilbert Arenas anywhere near John Wall and will do almost anything to rid themselves of Arenas as quickly as possible.

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According to one source with intimate knowledge of the team’s plans, the Wizards front office, headed up by President Ernie Grunfeld, doesn’t want Arenas – released earlier this month from a Washington DC halfway house after serving 30 days for a felony gun conviction – anywhere near Wall, whom the team has already decided it will select with the top pick in the June draft. After Arenas was convicted Grunfeld traded away four starters.

One source tagged Arenas as “the reason why a core of players that reached the playoffs” on multiple occasions had to be broken up, “and it was entirely due to what he did. He poisoned the team. He is a cancer.”

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This contradicts what the team, particularly GM Ernie Grunfeld has said publicly about Arenas.

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“Gilbert is part of our team. He has been a very good player for us. He’s back working out, he’s in our facility and we expect him to be with us,” Grunfeld said. “We plan on having him with us and being a very good contributor for us. Nobody feels good about what happened but we are going to try to move forward.”

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The Wizards could try to trade Arenas, but his contract has four years and $80 million left on it, so moving Arenas would entail bringing back someone else with a gigantic and hideous contract. Mitchell writes that the Wizards will definitely consider buying out Arenas’ contract, but I don’t see that happening unless it involves a huge savings for the team because a buyout means giving Gilbert up at a steep price and getting nothing back for him. I don’t see how that is in the best interests of the team.

Read more at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2010/05/24/will-wizards-dump-arenas/