Has Gilbert Arenas Been Blackballed by the NBA?

The NBA season is a mere five days away, and a player that was among the top 10 in the league a mere three years ago is still without a team.

Why hasn’t anybody signed Gilbert Arenas yet?

The 29-year-old combo guard is an unrestricted free agent with more baggage than your average player. Two knee surgeries and two lengthy suspensions may have sapped some of the allure away from “Agent Zero”, but the 6'4", 215-pound Arenas did average over 17 points a game with the Wizards last year before being dealt.

While he doesn’t have the explosive quickness of years past, he is still certainly capable of averaging 10 points and five assists in part-time action. That is better than what some newly-signed free agents are going to provide for their teams.

Are teams that scared to take a chance on a player who would face legit jail time he were to do something stupid again? The man has paid the price for his actions and would be the dumbest man alive if he were to screw up his second chance.

Arenas’ reportedly has a four-team wishlist where he’d like to end up: Lakers, Heat, Knicks and whichever team signs Dwight Howard. This shows that he only cares about winning at this point and would have no issues coming off the bench for a contender.

Despite his wishes, I think Arenas is better off going to a bad team like the Nets for a season, a team that can provide him with lots of shot opportunities. It’s no secret that he’s a streaky shooter that needs to get in the rhythm and flow of a game to truly make an impact. Give him a year of putting up 15 points a game in 30 to 35 minutes of action, and he won’t be getting ignored for guys like Baron Davis anymore.

I’m not going to say there is some sort of conspiracy to sign a player that comes with such extreme baggage, but it’s definitely a head-scratcher.

 Arenas is much better than what the league is currently valuing him at.