The Dagger Report, Episode 4: What's ailing Gilbert Arenas edition

by Mike Prada on Nov 24, 2009 8:29 AM EST in Site News Comment 8 comments

More photos » Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

In this week's episode of The Dagger Report, a Wizards podcast co-hosted by me and Kyle Weidie from Truth About It, JakeTheSnake joins us in our quest to get inside the head of Gilbert Arenas. We talk about his proclamation to go back to being "Agent Zero" and his recent struggles both on and off the court.

We also talk to Jordan Sams from Liberty Ballers, SB Nation's Philadelphia 76ers blog, about the Sixers, Eddie Jordan and what's causing them to get off to a slow start. Jordan lets off some steam about Eddie Jordan, questioning his early use of guys like Jrue Holiday and the team's defensive struggles. We also give a prediction about tonight's game.

Note: we recorded our segment with Jake on Sunday night and our segment with Jordan on Saturday afternoon, so we didn't get a chance to touch on yesterday's craziness.

Here's the episode:

The Dagger Report, Episode 4

Subscribe to The Dagger Report in ITunes

Songs used (it was my week to edit - when it's Kyle's week, we get rap. When it's my week, we get alternative rock)

Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
The Beastie Boys - "Sure Shot"
The Clash - "Rock The Casbah"
Billy Idol - "White Wedding"
The Romantics - "What I Like About You"
Steppenwolf - "Born To Be Wild"
Heart - "Crazy On You"
Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life"
And of course, the Rocky Theme Song (we are playing Philadelphia after all)

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On this front, got my question into a Chad Ford chat and didn't get the answer that I expected

“Evan (DC)

I know that Ernie isn’t going to blow things up until the injuries settle and he can see what the Wiz have, but what kind of trades could you see the Wiz making near the deadline with their boat load of expiring deals (Miller, James, Foye, Crittendon, Haywood = ~26m)?

Chad Ford
(1:17 PM)
Probably a new home for Gilbert Arenas. For all the talent he has (and he’s a Top 10 talent in my opinion) … is he a winner? I have my questions."

I generally dislike Chad Ford (he made some ridiculously ignorant comments in the off season about what the Wiz were doing), but I can’t help but wonder if he is right on this.

by Manimal Smith on Nov 24, 2009 1:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Who would take him?

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Nov 24, 2009 1:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yup

he’s untradeable, essentially

"a crab dribble is when you travel" - caron butler

by little stevie colter on Nov 24, 2009 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Currently, yes ...

But if he shows some improvement (which it seems we all think he will), then I think we could be rid of him if we can package some salary relief to offset the burden of his salary. This would probably mean taking bad 1 or 2 years of a bad contract in exchange for the other team taking on 4 year of Gilbert’s bad contract.

So it would probably look like something like trading away 2 of our expirings and Gilbert in exchange for 1 decent high salary player with a longer term deal and 1 bad contract that is shorter term. I could see that happening, but it would probably have to be a multi-team deal.

by Manimal Smith on Nov 24, 2009 1:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But if he shows improvement, why would we want to trade him?

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Nov 24, 2009 1:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well ...

By improvement I don’t mean dominance. I guess the question isn’t really whether we’d want to trade him, but rather if we will to shed salary if we see that we are not a championship contender. I assume that that is what Ford was saying.

Of course, Ford was also one of the morons who was saying that the Wizards were on a cost cutting spree in the off season even after we declined to jettison Antawn and/or Caron for an expiring contract at the deadline. So, this probably isn’t really worth discussing :P

by Manimal Smith on Nov 24, 2009 2:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I mean, if we’re rebuilding, might as well go all the way, but I doubt that happens until the summer.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Nov 24, 2009 2:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A player showing improvement-

doesn’t always mean that the team shows overall improvement or translate into wins. If Gil starts playing better but the offense is still sputtering because the pieces aren’t just fitting – then i could see him on the trading block. but on the flip side – you could also change the pieces around him. Plus – I’m just not sure who would want him.

by ooba on Nov 24, 2009 2:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs