Yesterday, we heard that Gilbert Arenas worked out in Los Angeles with the Lakers in attendance. Here are the latest updates following that workout, as the free agent guard continues to seek an NBA job….
- Kobe Bryant, who earlier indicated he'd have no problem with the Lakers signing Arenas, gave further endorsement of such a move today, reports Andrew Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles. Bryant said, "It certainly wouldn't hurt, that's for sure."
- Warriors consultant Jerry West also attended Arenas' workout, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. However, Golden State doesn't have interest in Arenas — West was "just watching," Wojnarowski hears.
- Sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles that Arenas looked "slimmed down" and "explosive" at Sunday's workout.
- Adding Arenas is viewed as a low-risk move by the Lakers, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Kyler adds that L.A. is reluctant to make any significant subtractions from their roster via trade, preferring to explore internal changes or use their trade exception before considering any major deals.
- Some league sources believed that Arenas was waiting to see whether Dwight Howard was traded so he could play with D12 on his new team, according to SI.com's Sam Amick.
why doesn’t Kupchak just sign him already? It’s 0 risk.
I read yesterday that the Lakers had also expressed interest in Allen Iverson, according to Stephen A. Smith. That could be interesting. As for Arenas, he still has potential to regain most of his old form, ad that could really push LA over the top.
I’m sorry to say Stephen A Smith never seems to get anything right when it comes to his “insiders”. He seems to come up with stories the same way “South Park” inferred “Family Guy” comes up with stories.
Arenas can’t be worse than Fisher at the point though. A minimum salary deal would be zero risk as conjecture noted below.
I’m not sure what the amnesty rules are, but if the Magic can get him back at the veteran’s minimum, I’ll be all for it
From what I understand Orlando is on the hook for all of Gilbert’s contract. By amnestying his contract they still have to pay him but it doesn’t count towards their salary cap or luxury tax.
Yep, this is correct. I still haven’t seen official rules on the amnesty clause, but I believe teams also can’t re-sign an amnestied player for the length of his contract. So Arenas couldn’t sign with Orlando until after his contract expires in 2014.
The Lakers need to decide now if they wanna sign Arenas or not, there’s no reason to sign him if they’re gonna wait weeks before deciding. If the Lakers don’t add anything significant before the deadline, Kupchak needs to be fired on the spot.
I agree I mean the sooner he starts playing the sooner he starts improving and hopefully the team improves