As Gilbert Arenas got prepared to walk through the doors of the practice court before the Wizards' shootaround, I asked him if he had anything he'd like to say.
"You know I don't talk on game days," Arenas said, then walked inside.
But when the Wizards face the Miami Heat on Saturday, the question remains: How much longer he will be representing Washington? As I reported yesterday and got confirmed by two more league sources this morning, the Wizards are engaged in serious discussions with the Orlando Magic about a deal involving Arenas. He is expected to be in a Wizards uniform, for possibly the final time, when the team hosts LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh ... and President Barack Obama, who is expected to attend his second Wizards game since moving into the Oval Office.
Magic general manager Otis Smith told reporters in Orlando this morning that he has spoken with the Wizards about Arenas and said the talks are an "eight out of 10" in terms of aggressiveness. He also said "nothing is imminent," which is something that I was told earlier today by another source.
After the Wizards lost to New Jersey on Thursday, Arenas said, "I feel like I'm the odd man out here. Just cause I'm older. When you look and see a team, 19 [years old], 20, 20, 20, 20. And you look at yourself, about hit 29. You look at the long picture and you're not part of this."
Smith is close with Arenas and he told the Orlando Sentinel in private conversations that the three-time all-star is a "sleeping giant." Ken Berger of CBSSports is reporting that the Magic is also trying to involve Phoenix to have a reunion with Suns forward Hedo Turkoglu, who helped Orlando reach the NBA Finals in 2009.
Wizards owner Ted Leonsis shot a trade rumor involving Arenas two weeks ago and said last month that Arenas is not "going anywhere." So what's changed? I was told that the Magic reached out to the Wizards this week and since then, the talks have intensified. The organization is starting to understand Arenas's frustrations playing with a rebuilding team and both sides have sought some separation since last season, when Arenas was suspended for the final 50 games after bringing guns into the locker room at Verizon Center last Dec. 21.
A source with knowledge of the discussions told me today that the Wizards do not want to include any players on their roster other than Arenas in this deal. That doesn't mean that those plans cannot change, just that the intent is to move Arenas. The Magic is also somewhat apprehensive about taking back Arenas's salary, which has $62.4 million and three years remaining after this one, according to another person with knowledge of the conversations.
The pieces that the Magic would move remain unclear, but Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat are the names that have been floated around. Lewis has two years and nearly $43 million left on his contract after this season, while Carter has an expiring deal that matches up with Arenas's contract.
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Magic is looking to make a change to shake up a team that has lost five of its past six games, but noted it would prefer to acquire Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets. Two weeks ago, a league source said that the Magic is also interested in Chris Paul.
Before the morning shootaround, Nick Young said he doesn't expect the rumors to be a distraction. "Rumors is rumors. You never know. I've been around, I've seen Caron [Butler] and everybody go through it. Players get traded. It's a business, but whatever happens, hopefully, you stay focused for the next game."
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