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Quick News Hits

By Jake Whitacre

First, three quick things on the whole Gilbert opting out saga:

1)Bill Simmons' take on the situation, from his chat today:

Citizen (World): Arenas anouncing he will opt out is an obvious shout out to the Lakers. If the Lakers were to trade Kobe and Vlad's contract to Chicago for Deng, Thomas, the #9 and expiring contracts/PJ Brown 1 year sign and trade, LA would be significantly under the cap in the summer of 2008. They could then sign Arenas to a max deal and roll out a lineup of Bynum, Odom, Deng, Arenas and Mike Conley/Acie Law. Thomas, Farmar, and next year's lottory pick come off the bench. They would be in perfect shape to contend as the Spurs and Nash will both be on the decline. Why wouldn't both LA and Chicago pull the trigger on something like this?

SportsNation Bill Simmons: See, now THAT was the biggest story of the weekend. For teams with expiring contracts that have a real chance to get under the cap next summer, Gilbert now becomes the big fish - he's still in his mid-20's, he's a franchise guy, you can sell tickets with him, etc. etc. I feel like that one announcement totally changed the off-season. Before Arenas, there were no potential superstars available in 2008. Now there are. So that changes the thinking of teams like the Celtics, the Hawks, the Bobcats, the Bucks and some other young teams that were thinking about absorbing a big contract this summer. Imagine Arenas with Pierce, jefferson and Corey Brewer? Yee hah!

2)A good piece from Nate Jones over at FanHouse about why Gilbert not hiring an agent might be a good thing.

3)Blogger extraordinaire Unsilent Majority gives his take on why he thinks that Arenas will stay over at Deadspin.

Finally, the NBA has announced a new TV partner for next year.  I'm not going to tell you who it is, just watch the trailer:

On second thought, maaaaaaybe not.