By now you all know that Washington Wizards' guard Gilbert Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA.
Arenas, in year two of a six-year, $111 million contract, has been the subject of scrutiny in the media for bringing four unloaded guns into the Verizon Center last week.
I'm not here to judge Arenas, or to defend his inexplicable actions.
Instead, his indefinite suspension raises an already lingering question: Where will the Wizards go from here?
The Wizards payroll for this year is about $82 million, which is almost $25 million above the current NBA salary cap. Washington will shave nearly $35 million off their payroll with expiring contracts at the end of the season.
The biggest contract on the team is Arenas'. At $16 million a season for the next four years (along with Jamison's $11.6 million for the next three years), Washington has virtually no chance at landing a marquee free agent until 2012.
With an 11-21 record (No. 11 in the Eastern Conference) and no Arenas, the Wizards chance for a playoff run, or even a playoff spot, looks obsolete.
It makes sense that Ernie Grunfeld is taking ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Eric Felkey
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January 6th, 2010 by Eric Felkey Leave a reply »
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