The 2009-10 season in The National Basketball Association might be a
distant memory to some, but it is not to Gilbert Arenas. Arenas was the
star guard for The Washington Wizards when he made the mistake of
bringing loaded handguns into The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
These actions changed his life forever. Arenas missed the majority of
that season after being suspended by NBA commissioner David Stern for
his actions. Since then Arenas has been trying to regain the form that
made the guard from The University of Arizona a three-time All-Star
selection. Arenas is not the same player that averaged 28 points per
game from 2004 to 2007, but he can still be an effective role player for
a team if he can check his ego at the door and once again become apart
of a team. In December, The Orlando Magic used the amnesty clause to
waive Arenas making him a free-agent. These are five teams that could
the use the services of Arenas.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
According to ESPN.com, The Lakers
have expressed interest in Arenas. The Lakers need a perimeter shooter
that can take some pressure off of shooting guard Kobe Bryant. Bryant is
averaging 30 points a game and is also averaging 38 minutes per
contest. Signing Arenas would allow Bryant to rest some for the playoffs
instead of him maxing out in the regular season. The Lakers plans of
acquiring point guard Chris Paul from The New Orleans Hornets were shot
down by commissioner Stern and Bryant desperately needs a sidekick in
Tinseltown.
2. Miami Heat
With duo of forward Lebron James and
guard Dwayne Wade, simply making The NBA Finals is not good enough for
The Miami Heat. Last season The Heat bowed out in six games to The
Dallas Mavericks. Neither James or Wade are the best perimeter shooters
and one thing that plagued Miami last season was outside shooting. Last
season, James shot 33 percent beyond the three-point arc while Wade
checked in at 30 percent. Arenas is a lifetime 35 percent three-point
shooter and his percentage could rise as he would see open shots playing
with Wade and James. Arenas is not Reggie Miller, but another shooter
off of the bench with Mike Miller could pay dividends against teams such
as The Chicago Bulls in The Eastern Conference Playoffs.
3. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves
are a young team on the rise. The T-Wolves are in contention for the
eighth spot in The Western Conference. With forwards Kevin Love and
Michael Beasley along with point guard Ricky Rubio, The Timberwolves can
make a push for the postseason this year. The Timberwolves are lacking
production from the shooting guard position. Signing Arenas would give
Minnesota a chance to make a run in the ultra-tough Western Conference.
The Timberwolves need a more production but at what expense? Agent Zero
has a shaky background in the leadership category and you wonder if
Timberwolves general manager David Kahn would take a chance on him
messing up the locker room chemistry of a young team.
4. Philadelphia 76ers
Don’t look now but The
Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to win their first Atlantic Division
title since 2001. Defensively, The Sixers are only giving up 86 points
per contest which will get them to the playoffs and it will be nice to
have some more scoring to go with this team. Phildelphia is getting good
guard play from the combination of Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday who
combined are nearly averaging 30 points a game along with 8 assists.
With The 76ers, Arenas could team with another former Arizona Wildcat
Andre Iguodala who is one of the more explosive small forwards in The
NBA. If Arenas can check his ego at the door, The City of Brotherly Love
could be a nice landing spot for him.
5. Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers have been one of
the pleasant surprises in The Eastern Conference this year. The Pacers
are going to give The Bulls are run for their money in The Central
Division this season. The Pacers get after teams on the defensive end,
but they have only scored over 100 points in four games this season. The
Pacers have the big man duo of Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert which
have combined to average almost 15 rebounds per game. All-Star forward
Danny Granger is the unquestioned leader of this team. Granger is
averaging 17.4 per contest and it would nice for Indiana to have a
scorer off of the bench to contend with the likes of The Heat and Bulls
in the playoffs.
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