NBA Daily Dribbles: Gilbert Arenas Suspended for Remainder of Season

Countdown to NBA Trade Deadline: 22 Days

What I’m Reading

• Well, it’s Wednesday, so I feel required to issue my weekly Gilbert Arenas update. He’s going to be suspended for the rest of the season . Boom. There you go.

• After rumors surfaced Wednesday of a Ray Allen for Monta Ellis deal, Ray came out to say he’s all about Beantown. Atta boy, Ray-ray.

• There is a lot of interest in Amar’e Stoudemire heading into the deadline. Add the Spurs to the list of teams going after him.

• Even though the Pistons have struggled and speculation swirls around Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, Joe Dumars isn’t ready to deal his pieces yet.

• Wolves GM David Kahn has no plans to trade Ricky Rubio to the Knicks , remarking, “What kind of trade can they possibly propose?” This, of course, coming from the GM of a 9-37 team.

What I Think About It

• Alright, so Gilbert’s 2009-10 season is officially over. Does this mean we can stop talking about him until the summer? Let’s hope so. But regardless, we’re going to be hearing about it as details come out about a possible voided contract. I’m leaning toward feeling like the void is going to happen, allowing the Wizards to basically go nuts this summer. It's going to be much like contestants on “Supermarket Sweep ” during the final “Big Sweep” portion of the show where any and all expensive items are dumped into their carriages as they scramble through the store. Hey, if I have to talk about Gilbert Arenas, I’m at least going to make it enjoyable for myself by reminiscing about childhood memories of terrible game shows. Deal with it.

• The Ray for Monta deal makes a lot of sense and nonsense for both teams. For the C’s, while it may look smart on paper, it’s the kind of deal that is too risky from a chemistry standpoint. As you may know, I’m a huge proprietor of team chemistry— especially in basketball. It’s absolutely essential to becoming a successful ball club. Trading Ray, an unspoken team leader and role model, for a guy who once lied to his team about injuring his ankle in an embarrassing moped accident would be disastrous. On the flip side, a backcourt of Monta and Rajon Rondo, ages 24 and 23, respectively, is equally as devastating—in the winning basketball games kind of way. Ray truly wants to stay in Boston, so I don’t think this is a deal they should approach. But for the Warriors, bringing Ray to Golden State makes sense because his large contract comes off the books at the end of the year and they can then rebuild around Stephen Curry. The downside is that Ray would be the perfect mentor to Curry, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be around after this season. And this deal doesn’t make them win any more games than they would with Monta, leading to a young, frustrated superstar in Curry. You know what happens with young, frustrated superstars? They leave.

• I mentioned last week about Manu Ginobili possibly being on his last legs in San Antonio and he now appears to be the centerpiece of a potential deal for Stoudemire. I still wouldn’t consider the Spurs the front-runners for Amar’e, but things are certainly heating up in their corner. Because contradicting myself is one of my many talents, I’m going to now say that I really do think Stoudemire will be traded this season. I know he recently said he wants to stay in Phoenix, but there’s just too much interest out there right now for a deal not to get done. Some team is going to swoop in, offer the Suns a deal with young talent (which they desperately need) that includes a successor to Steve Nash, and GM Steve Kerr is going to have no choice but to accept it. I can’t say who the team is yet, but if I had to make a bet with Vegas, I’d pick Minnesota. And of course, once again, KAHHHNNNNN!!!!

• Occasionally, Joe Dumars looks like he knows what he’s doing. I can’t say I blame him for not wanting to give up on his team and his franchise players just yet, because the Pistons have yet to play consistently healthy, and one has to believe that the full Pistons squad is better than the 15-28 record that they’ve posted thus far. He fully expects them to compete for that seemingly revolving eight seed, if not more. But, if we end up a week away from the deadline and things haven’t picked up for Detroit, expect Dumars’ phone to be ringing off the hook as teams that actually have a shot this year inquire about acquiring one (or both) of the swingmen.

• Look, Davey Boy, you can’t just insult a team, albeit a less-than-proud team in the Knicks, by saying that they have nothing to offer like that. Donnie Walsh is supposed to be your buddy. He was basically your mentor in Indiana. The Knicks actually have a shot at the playoffs. What can you say about ‘Sota’s chances this year? Exactly. So don’t be so quick to write off the Knicks as Rubio suitors, because clearly they must have something to offer. Having said that, I still think Phoenix is the most likely place for Rubio, if he does end up being dealt. And now for something else that needs repeating…voila. Hate me yet?

*Disclaimer: Pat DeCola first saw the “Wrath of Khan” reference on an episode of Seinfeld and can, in no way, be called a “Trekkie”. That is all.

‘Til Thursday…

PD

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