Gilbert Arenas Took Less Money, Remains a Wizard
Agent Zero is a man of his word. He asked the Washington Wizards to take care of his teammate Antawn Jamison (they did), and in turn, he’d remain with the team. That’s exactly what happened.
Gilbert Arenas took less money than expected (about $16 million less than the Wiz were offering), and has agreed to a six-year extension. Naturally, he was quick to underscore that he took less money for the good of the franchise.
“[The Wizards] offered me the max, and I’m basically giving back $16 million,” Arenas said. “This is in line with what I’ve been saying the whole time. You see players take max deals, and they financially bind their teams. I don’t wanna be one of those players, and three years down the road your team is strapped and can’t do anything about it.
“What can I do for my family with $127 million that I can’t do with $111 million?” he added.
The Wizards have re-signed their major pieces (and even saved a little money in the process!), and now, the prayers for their health begin anew.
50 Responses to “Gilbert Arenas Took Less Money, Remains a Wizard”
Jul.4 at 9:05 am
Gerard Himself says:
Tim Duncan, Gilbert Arenas, so different, yet so the same. I respect a player like that.
Jul.4 at 9:06 am
Gerard Himself says:
up next, Elton Brand.
Jul.4 at 9:10 am
d.Y. says:
If you were unsure of who to root for in the wiz/cavs rivalry, now you know.
Jul.4 at 9:18 am
iLL wiLL says:
What could Gil have done with 90 mil that he couldn’t do with a 111 mil? Man, to be able to give back like Gil is amazingly amazing.
Jul.4 at 9:38 am
WhaHuh says:
Jamison got too much, Gil gave back a little. I want to see how people will twist it so they still manage to hate him.
Jul.4 at 9:47 am
namik says:
FTH…
Jul.4 at 9:57 am
Benoit Benjamin says:
Let’s not give him a medal for that either. He did this because he knows it’s his team, and the only way he can win more is by keeping these guys around him. he did a smart thing, true, but he still gets a lot of money.
Jul.4 at 10:02 am
rav says:
I’m sure the extra $3m or so that he gave up will push the wiz over the edge…
Jul.4 at 10:14 am
thesubwayconnection says:
I’m glad he did it. The Wiz will need at least one more piece (*ahem* post presence) to win anything. Gil apparently does understand logic.
Jul.4 at 10:30 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Can I get the $16 million? I’ll even give $15 million back.
Jul.4 at 10:32 am
H to the izzo says:
I wasn’t expecting this,I’ve got a new respect,and by that I mean he now has my respect.
Co-sign Russ.
Jul.4 at 10:48 am
Chou says:
That’s because he saved a lot from not having to pay an agent. LOL. I’m wondering what the haters would say about this, though.
Jul.4 at 11:10 am
Russ Bengtson says:
I hope he gives his Halo team a raise.
Jul.4 at 11:35 am
Double R says:
People will probably say he is stupid for not taking the max. But if he had taken the max they would have called him selfish.
Jul.4 at 11:44 am
Gerard Himself says:
yup Double R, whatever he does, it’s never good enough.
Jul.4 at 11:51 am
Double R says:
Hey Russ (or anybody) what did Chad Ford say about LeBron before he was drafted? I was trying to find it on the internets but no such luck.
Jul.4 at 11:54 am
H to the izzo says:
DoubleR:Charley Rosen’s opinion was much more humorous.
Jul.4 at 11:57 am
RV says:
Chou, good point, wouldn’t the agent have received pretty much what he gave back?
Jul.4 at 12:06 pm
Double R says:
Izzo, what actually did he say?
Jul.4 at 12:09 pm
Double R says:
Izzo, who was it that said LeBron will be nothing more than….?
Jul.4 at 12:12 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Charley Rosen. Ryan knows it by heart, but it went something like: ‘Sorry Cleveland fans, but the best King James can ever be is an average NBA player.’ Needless to say, he may have been wrong.
Jul.4 at 12:13 pm
Double R says:
Never mind I found the quote.
Jul.4 at 12:13 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
And it’s worth noting that, after that, Charley Rosen STILL gets paid to write about the NBA. Unbelievable.
Jul.4 at 12:17 pm
Marcel Mutoni says:
speaking of rosen. i read a post from yahoo’s kelly dwyer yesterday, in which he argued that charley rosen is one of the biggest fans of the game, and should be given a tv gig. or something. (sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Joe-Buck-comes-clean?urn=nba,91815 obviously, this made me fall out of my chair. carry on…
Jul.4 at 12:17 pm
H to the izzo says:
Charley Rosen on LeBron James:
“A note to long-suffering Cavaliers’ fans: Don’t get caught in the LeBron James pipe dream. The best King James can ever be is an average NBA player.”
Jul.4 at 12:18 pm
Double R says:
Although Charley Rosen was harsh and waaaay wrong about LeBron, no one can know for sure the level of success a player will have.
Jul.4 at 12:23 pm
H to the izzo says:
He two hate pieces on LeBron for ESPN’s page2,and got quite personal too.The man’s a tool.
Jul.4 at 12:27 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
No one can ever know, that’s true—I drank the Chad Ford Kool-Aid and picked Darko to be Rookie of the Year, for God’s sake—but to say the best LeBron would EVER BE is an average NBA player was one of the dumbest things anyone has ever said about anybody.
Jul.4 at 12:27 pm
Double R says:
Izzo in reading his article he did seem spiteful like LeBron personally did something to him.
Jul.4 at 12:30 pm
Double R says:
Russ,in retrospect he is wrong, but if things turned out differently he would be right. It’s eally thst simple. It’s a guessing game.
Jul.4 at 1:26 pm
Keith says:
The best Charley Rosen can ever be is an average dumbf*ck.
Jul.4 at 1:36 pm
tealish says:
I normally don’t like Gilbert’s constant public self-assessing, but that last line was great and something I’ve always wondered about:
“What can I do for my family with $127 million that I can’t do with $111 million?”
Jul.4 at 1:49 pm
Cam Jones says:
See by switching to Gieco he can afford to leave a little money on the table
Jul.4 at 2:01 pm
TADOne says:
Gil took less money, Charley Rosen is still a dumbass, and the world is a better place today.
Jul.4 at 2:57 pm
B. Long says:
I’m very proud of Agent Zero. Now the front office should get him some front court help.
Jul.4 at 4:30 pm
Moose says:
yeah, the wizards front court does need to improve, brandon haywood is decent, but a solid center-forward is needed for a great team. javale mcgee should help out in that area.
Jul.4 at 5:13 pm
Luigi says:
Gilbert would be my AGENT if he were to negotiate a contract for me haha but srsly gil shuda signed 6 yr 100 mill contract. only 26 mill but could get a high pro player here. but still 13 mill save is still good
Jul.4 at 5:43 pm
TDK says:
This isn’t much of a saving. Are we serious here? So the Wizards save almost $3 million a year over the 6 years. It won’t be used to bring in anyone else. The Wizards will be capped out for the next 2 or 3 years and then they’ll depend on bringing in guys for a couple million a year.
So because they’re over the cap it’s not like the $3 million a year will go to be added on top of the mid-level and then they’ll be able to compete for a guy at the $8-9 mil range. They’re over the cap so they, like a lot of teams can only spend the mid-level exception. So if a free agent has a choice between SA, LA, Bos, NY, Chi, Wash, etc. I don’t think they’ll pick Washington just because Gilbert saved ownership/management $3 million a year.
He’s still averaging $18.5 million a year. Hopefully this is front loaded a bit. Can you do that in the NBA? Maybe I’m doubting Washington too much but I don’t see them getting to the Conference finals yet.
Jul.4 at 6:08 pm
Moose says:
as much as their frontcourt needs to get better, arenas, butler and jamison look like “big three” material.
Jul.4 at 9:26 pm
hursty says:
HIBACHI!
Jul.5 at 1:55 am
Teddy-the-Bear says:
Its the Wizards’ own fault for not being dominant in the post. If they would’ve kept Kwame Brown, they would be real contenders in the east. I don’t think they’ll ever be able draft as dominant a player as Kwame again.
Jul.5 at 2:26 am
cazzy says:
this is why he my fav player, he does wat ever he can to win, and hopefully that involves alot of passing this year, he may be the best player, but he wont be on the best team intill he shows he can pass like nash.
Jul.5 at 5:35 am
snyper48 says:
@Teddy Bear:are you serious dude?
Jul.5 at 3:20 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The good thing is they can get Kwame back. He’s a free agent!
Jul.5 at 11:49 pm
niQ says:
wow.. more players should think like arenas.. really.. what he said is true.. like.. if YOU REALLY want to have a BETTER team.. allow your team to save money in order to PAY other players… really.
Jul.6 at 1:06 am
KA says:
I heart gil.
Jul.6 at 1:40 am
Kevin Wilson says:
If he really cared about saving the Wizards money, would he have opted out?
Jul.6 at 4:23 am
Ohpityme says:
Well the Wizards are officially a first round out in the playoffs for the forseeable future someone should tell Ben Gordon to get a blog and be all belligerent about his draft status(yeah i know where he was drafted im just makin a point) so he can get the chance to turn down a max deal!
Seriously though, this teams proven they arent capable of winning in the playoffs, so why would you re-up the players deals?
Plus they overpayed for Jamison who is 32 next season.
Jul.7 at 1:47 am
Teddy-the-Bear says:
Haha YES! Get Kwame back Wiz! I love this time of year because teams can redeem themselves.
Jul.7 at 1:23 pm
Mark Z says:
I like Gil ALOT as a player & as a personality, but 111 million for a player with recent MULTIPLE knee surgeries & roster that actually played BETTER without him?! The idea that the Wiz would offer him the max or that he could get more elsewhere is just crazy. Were any other teams offering anything close to 100 mil?