After years of worrying there may be no season at all, team executives were suddenly opening up their gyms to welcome back their signed players and negotiating with free agents while trying to make sense of a new collective bargaining agreement as it was being finalized. Here are some of the ins and outs to consider as teams, agents and players look forward to the dual Dec. 9 opening of training camp and free agency.
By the time the first week of the "Lockout League" was coming to a close in Las Vegas, there was widespread disappointment over the fact that Blake Griffin never showed up as expected.
NEW YORK -- The fall of Gilbert Arenas has been long and well-chronicled. His days as an NBA All-Star have long been forgotten, erased by the memories of a bum knee that robbed him of the better part of two seasons and a monstrous mistake, his decision to bring unloaded guns into the Wizards locker room last season, which cut short a third.
NEW YORK -- You know about the blinding speed, the freakish athleticism and the explosive first step. But what you might not know about Wizards rookie point guard John Wall is how high his basketball IQ is.
NEW YORK -- The worst shall not be first, not yet anyway. But the Wizards will not be last any longer.
Although the comparison is not apples to apples, many in the NBA are comparing the first two picks of this year's draft to 2007 when the choice was between Kevin Durant and Greg Oden.
CHICAGO -- Given their time limitations Thursday, NBA executives said not a great deal changed in their assessments of the prospects for the June 24 draft.
It's an old adage, one often repeated: The night is always darkest just before the dawn. It's an axiom the Washington Wizards now fully understand. An '09-'10 season that began with championship aspirations was shaken by the untimely death of longtime owner Abe Pollin and the season-long suspensions of Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton and ended with franchise cornerstones Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood wearing different uniforms and Arenas watching from the closed quarters of a halfway house.
Almost half of the league's teams were involved in deadline trades over the past week. There appeared to be a number of explosions, but when the smoke cleared very little of importance had altered the championship race this season.
Many inside the league, and even many members of the media, didn't think much would happen before this year's trade deadline because teams were so concerned with the upcoming labor negotiations and the impact they would have on each club's ability -- or inability -- to rebuild a team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have become title favorites Wednesday after acquiring two-time All-Star Antawn Jamison for -- potentially -- very little.
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Wizards forward Antawn Jamison in a three-team, six-player trade on Wednesday, SI.com has confirmed.
As All-Star weekend clears out of Dallas and NBA teams look ahead Thursday's trade deadline, the ball is now firmly in Cleveland's court. The Cavaliers are the most ambitious team available to take on salary, and they must decide whether to continue pursuing Amar'e Stoudemire or to renew potential trades for Antawn Jamison or Troy Murphy.
The Dallas Mavericks have acquired Caron Butler in a seven-player trade with the Washington Wizards, SI.com has learned.
The NBA's decision to suspend Washington Wizards guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton for the remainder of the season doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who was within earshot of commissioner David Stern over the past month.
The first half of the NBA season is the time to get a first glance at the rookie class, assess how well players have returned from injuries, see which teams thrive at incorporating new players and identify the contenders and the pretenders.
Washington Wizards player Javaris Crittenton Monday became the second member of the NBA team to plead guilty to a weapons charge following a gun-toting locker-room incident.
With the trade deadline exactly a month away, things are starting to heat up in earnest as teams try to acquire talent for a potential playoff run or, conversely, other teams attempt to unload players and shed salaries.
Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony gun violation after admitting he drew guns in the team locker room in a highly publicized December 21 incident.
In light of a Washington Post report that, according to two first-hand accounts, Javaris Crittenton loaded and cocked his own gun during a dispute with Gilbert Arenas, SI.com legal expert Michael McCann answered key questions about the new, and possibly heightened, consequences the players and team could face.
Because of Washington guard Gilbert Arenas' decision to store firearms -- unloaded handguns, according to the player and the Wizards -- in his locker, he could soon face the wrath of law-enforcement authorities, the NBA and his team. Arenas' woes may be compounded if he and teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other during an alleged locker-room argument.
NBA commissioner David Stern indefinitely suspended Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas without pay on Wednesday.
Opportunity rarely knocks for teams with bloated payrolls, underachieving players and more long-term contracts than a bailed-out Fortune 500 company. But for the Washington Wizards, it's banging on their door. And all they have to do is open it and shove Gilbert Arenas right out.
Two Washington Wizards basketball players drew guns on each other during a heated Christmas Eve gambling debt dispute, the New York Post reported Friday.
How wrong was I about the Washington Wizards? I thought they'd win 50 games and challenge Atlanta for the No. 4 seed in the East.
Four SI.com writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the NBA each week. (All stats and records are through Dec. 14.)
One, measly point separated Tyreke Evans from making Kings history. One point would have made him the franchise's first rookie to register eight consecutive 20-point games. Yet, with 3:11 left against the Knicks, Paul Westphal motioned Evans to the bench, a request greeted with a look of mild surprise from the 20-year-old.
It was just a month ago that the Kings and Bucks were perceived by many, if not most, fans as the doormats of their respective conferences. As we flip the calendar to December, the Bucks are 9-7, the Kings 8-8.
Four SI.com writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the NBA each week. (All stats and records are through Nov. 30.)
Abe Pollin, the longtime owner of the Washington Wizards professional basketball franchise, has died, the Wizards said Tuesday. He was 85.
The NBA's 64th season tips off Tuesday night. Who are the players and what are the stories that will shape the next eight months? SI.com's Ian Thomsen offers a sneak peek ...
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Angered by their 19-win season in 2008-09, several Wizards players insisted that they would come to training camp in the best shape of their lives.
The Summer of Big Transactions brought a lot of help to a lot of teams, or so it is hoped. The names in many cases are as big as the expectations.
The newly sworn-in Commander In Chief created a stir back in February when he dropped by the Verizon Center and planted himself courtside, eschewing a suite upstairs that would have made happier all those dark-suited guys sporting shades, ear pieces and lapel pins. President Obama was there to see his hometown club, the Chicago Bulls, not the NBA team that represents the city in which he currently works and resides.
The Wizards and Timberwolves have agreed in principle to a trade involving Washington's No. 5 pick in the draft, a league source told SI.com on Tuesday.
A primer for Thursday's draft ...
DENVER -- A league source told SI.com Friday night that the Philadelphia 76ers have reached an agreement in principle with former Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan to take over as their head coach. A formal announcement is expected to come over the weekend.
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league.
Who will be drafted by whom next month? It's impossible to say before Tuesday, when the annual lottery spells out the order of teams at the top of the draft. But here is an early look at five of the top picks and the franchise where each might have the biggest impact. Keep in mind this is a fantasy exercise, because who knows whether any of these teams will be positioned to draft the player it needs most?
It was a typical pre-game scene for the Washington Wizards, a team with a well earned reputation for having one of the loosest locker rooms in the league. Laying on a training table in the middle of the visiting locker room, Caron Butler peered over the shoulder of Wizards trainer Eric Waters to observe reserve forward Oleksiy Pecherov shoveling an orange into his mouth.
Trinnette Morris and her group of girls followed in President Obama's footsteps when they stopped at Ben's Chili Bowl during a recent visit to Washington.
With the possible exception of Congressional seats, the annual comings and goings in the NBA's head coaching ranks is arguably our biggest game of musical chairs. It's played with far greater frequency than the politicians' version, certainly, and to the best of our knowledge, none of the vacancies ever has been blatantly put up for sale. Not even in Chicago.
The Washington Wizards were finishing a shootaround before a recent game against New Orleans when Gilbert Arenas emerged from the home locker room. Dressed in black sweat pants and a long-sleeved Wizards T-shirt, Arenas walked without a limp. When he spotted Hornets guard and former Wizards teammate Antonio Daniels making his way toward the visitors' locker room, Arenas ran toward him (again, no limp) and gave him a quick chest bump. He looked strong. He looked healthy. He looked like a player ready to make his season debut.
No team in the NBA is suffering a greater shortfall this season between its October vision and its March reality than the Washington Wizards. In a town famous for broken promises, flawed potential, overspending and staggering deficits, the White House and the Capitol have nothing on what's gone on at the Verizon Center in 2008-09.
With the All-Star break and the trading deadline now history, the NBA hits a reset button of sorts. Front offices now retreat to the obscurity of scouting college players while those on the floor steam toward the playoffs or the lottery. Let's take a look at a handful of figures who have been placed on the hot seat after last week's action -- or inaction as the case may be.
With Amar'e Stoudemire unlikely to be dealt before Thursday's trading deadline, the next-biggest thing is being attempted by the Cleveland Cavaliers -- a surprise move at acquiring two-time All-Star forward Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards.
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week. (All stats are through Monday.)
The list of NBA general managers' nightmares is a long one, crammed with all sorts of cruel if colorful possibilities. There's the Worst Record in the League, Fourth Pick in the Draft Thanks to That Infernal Lottery nightmare. There's the You Let Sam Bowie Off the Hook nightmare, in which some unfortunate GM passes up the next Michael Jordan to select instead a really, really tall future thoroughbred farmer. In the recurring category, they've got the Celebrates His $66 Million Contract Extension By Buying a Moped or Even a Harley chiller. Let's not forget the Looks Like the Big O (Robertson) When You Sign Him in July, Looks Like the Big O (Winfrey) When He Shows Up in October nightmare.
MILWAUKEE -- Wizards center Etan Thomas has managed to stay in the NBA for a long time by banging inside the paint, refusing to back down and outfighting bigger foes.
More frightening than the defense of the Celtics, the depth of the Lakers or the relentless improvement of LeBron James was the 1-10 start of the Wizards. When Eddie Jordan was fired last month after a loss to the depleted, seven-man roster of the Knicks, his fellow coaches were reminded of the awful truth: All NBA teams are fragile, and injuries can undo any club.
Why was Eddie Jordan fired by the Washington Wizards on Monday, just two months after the team picked up his contract option for the 2009-10 season? That's easy: defense.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eddie Jordan was fired as coach of the Washington Wizards on Monday after opening the season 1-10 without injured starters Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood.
SI.com will analyze each of the NBA's 30 teams as regular-season tip-off approaches. For a complete list of team-by-team breakdowns, click here. The information in the "Go figure" category below is provided by Roland Beech of 82games.com.
Gilbert Arenas' name was once synonymous with several positive words. Explosive. Dynamic. Colorful. These days there is a new word that has become closely associated with Arenas, one he would undoubtedly prefer to keep his distance from.
The Washington Wizards have decided to keep their Big 3 together.
5. Washington Wizards. Their stubbornness in refusing to yield to Cleveland outweighs the knuckleheadedness of some decisions their players have made recently. The offseason will center on whether to re-sign Gilbert Arenas (who can opt out of his contract) and Antawn Jamison. In both cases, the answer is yes. Arenas can't (and won't, unless the condition of his surgically repaired knee changes horribly) be allowed to walk, because second-team All-NBA guards are almost impossible to replace. The Wizards hope to reach a compromise on a new contract for the 31-year-old Jamison, who has established himself as an All-Star and leader in Washington.
It has to be one of the toughest decisions for an NBA coach in the playoffs. Do you let a star player who has been injured come back and assume a dominant role with the team? Or do you try to work him back in a way so as to not disrupt the chemistry that got you to the postseason in the first place?
If you're looking for a dark horse in the NBA playoffs, I mean a real long shot, a team absolutely no one figures has a chance to win it, you might want to consider the Wizards.
Awards season is just around the corner. Before you get bogged down in the same old MVP debates or how Doc Rivers did a better job coaching than Byron Scott, let's honor those for whom there won't be any hardware, but who have made a lasting impact on the 2007-08 season.
"When I first got shot I only felt the bullet in my wrist,'' says Andray Blatche, the Washington Wizards' 6-11 forward. "So I thought I was fine. So immediately what I did was, I took the shirt off and wrapped it around my wrist to stop the blood and tighten it up tight. I was real cool the whole time because it didn't really hurt much, because I thought it was just my wrist. But once I got to meet the ambulance at McDonald's, the cop got there first and he seen I got my shirt off and he seen blood come from my chest. And he was like, 'Did you get shot in your chest?' And I said, 'No, just my wrist.' And he said, 'No, you got shot in your chest.'
These days I use my old baseball cards as bookmarks. I had collected cards as a kid, and I still have a shoebox of them in my apartment. When I start reading a new book, I blindly reach into the shoebox, root around and pull one out. The cards get bent and frayed -- but at least this way I get to see them.
Losing in the first round of the playoffs is a particularly cruel fate. Not bad enough to feign excitement over a draft lottery pick nor good enough to win any games of substance in the spring, early playoff losers are caught in a state of limbo. Breaking the cycle that lifts a good team to greatness is a difficult and delicate process, one that often requires a step or two back to take the next steps ahead.
As we did last season, and the previous year, it's time for our third annual trip through some of my favorite stories from the previous NBA season.
There's just something about a 6-9, weepy millionaire that turns the rest of us into pop psychologists. I'm sure I'm not the only one who spent the first week of the playoffs wondering why Utah's Andrei Kirilenko was so frustrated, and why his play has been so off for most of 2006-07. AK's team is flourishing, finally, but his production has tailed off: he established career-lows in points, rebounds, and steals in his sixth season, playing his third-lowest minutes per game mark (29.1).
CLEVELAND -- Larry Hughes is an experiment. Well, his position is. The Cavaliers' shooting guard-turned-point guard is in the second month of his transition from player to playmaker and, as in any experiment, you are bound to have a multitude of results.
The buzz in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon was not limited to the Cavaliers second consecutive playoff appearance.
SI.com's Ian Thomsen interviewed four NBA advance scouts -- two from each conference -- to break down the first round of the playoffs. For analysis of the West series, click here.
In pondering the likelihood of playoff upsets, one must first ponder exactly what constitutes upset. A 5 seed beating a 4, for example, does not necessarily scream upset, particularly since home court skews the whole thing. Division winner Miami is a 4 yet begins its quest for a second straight title on the road, at No. 5 Chicago, so who is, in fact, the underdog?
Also in this column: • Wizards at a loss without Butler • Chinese 7-footer the No. 3 pick? A lot of uncalled-for hot air is being exhaled on rumors that Billy Donovan will leave NCAA champion Florida to coach in the NBA. This much I can tell you: If an NBA team hires Donovan, it will mean that its owner either doesn't know what he's doing, or that he's infatuated by the short-term buzz generated by the hot college coach of the moment.
1. Donald Trump's wrestler won his match against Vince McMahon's guy in Sunday night's Wrestlemania 23, meaning Trump didn't have to shave his hair. That's great news to the homeless family that's been living there.
In the next year or two Tommy Sheppard will become a role model for all of the college graduates who want to make a career in pro sports but don't know how. A dozen years ago Sheppard was a young nobody with a twanging New Mexico accent who had just been hired as a media relations director by the Denver Nuggets. During his first week he told himself he was going to become a general manager in the NBA.
WASHINGTON -- He looked like his old self: Thin by his enormous standards, as happy as ever and surprisingly confident. One way or another, the game always circles back to Shaquille O'Neal, as if returning from orbit around its biggest center.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Ticker) -- Washington Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler was sent home Tuesday with lower back spasms and will miss his second straight game, the team announced.
I picked him up at the airport in Bangor, Maine, and I asked him, 'How many bags have you got?' He said he had four. I said, 'Good. That will take you only two trips to get it in the van.' And I walked off and left him. Let him make two trips carrying the bags by himself."
Both teams are spiraling out of control, taking wonderful monthlong respites between wins, running with abandon, losing with aplomb, stinking up the joints.
Also in the Weekly Quiz: • Impact of John Amaechi coming out • The NBA's worst defensive players • Danger of making midseason deals • Life without guaranteed contracts?
Also in this column: • One key for running teams • Best players in the Euroleague • Notes from around the NBA
WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison will miss three to six weeks with a sprained left knee, the team announced Thursday.
Like a lot of fellow longtime NBA executives, Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh has been watching the red-hot Suns this season with more than a passing interest.
WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Wizards apparently will have to continue their winning ways without forward Antawn Jamison.
When Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor leaps to block a layup, he often turns sideways, like a waiter navigating a crowded room, so that he can extend his right arm as far as possible. When he leaps to block a dunk, however, the 6'10", 252-pound Okafor tries to go straight up, the better to neutralize his opponent's momentum. Considering that a blocked dunk is one of the rarest feats in basketball -- at week's end there had been only 113 in 603 NBA games this season -- this is easier in theory than in practice.
My editors suggested (translation: "assigned") a column about my predictions for the second half of the season. Those predictions, presumably, should not include the prediction that my predictions will be faulty.
Last week's column about fans who keep attending games of terrible teams brought e-mail from readers all over the country who took offense at my suggestion that Cubs fans have had to suffer through the most hopeless seasons.
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- After orchestrating the Phoenix Suns to yet another perfect week, Steve Nash was rewarded for his exploits.
You have to wonder what Jerry Sloan was thinking. With the clock ticking toward zero in Monday's game between Washington and Utah, Agent Zero, also known as Gilbert Arenas, began making his move toward the basket.
As we settle into the new year, one burning question sticks in my mind: What Golden State Warrior will emerge to play bass in the garage band apparently being formed by Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy?
• Derek Jeter has been romantically linked to Jessica Biel since they were spotted getting cozy in Las Vegas the weekend after Thanksgiving. The two seem to officially be a couple now after the Yankees shortstop and the 7th Heaven actress were photographed getting off a boat at their hotel in Puerto Rico last week. The couple reportedly spent New Years with one another in Puerto Rico, playing blackjack at the El Conquistador Resort and Golden Door Spa in a roped off area and playing volleyball on the beach.
Also in this column: • Surprise! You're an NBA starter • Notes from around the league
The Utah Jazz's war room was operating on overdrive the evening of the 2005 NBA Draft. The Jazz had just traded away three first-round picks for the right to swap places with Portland, with the clear goal of acquiring a point guard to replace John Stockton, whose presence (or lack thereof) was still being felt in Salt Lake City two years after his retirement.
They are one of the NBA's stealth teams. Despite back-to-back playoff appearances, the Wizards seldom get mentioned in the discussion about top Eastern contenders. Maybe it's because they were bounced in the playoffs by the Heat and Cavs, respectively, the past two years. Maybe it's because they don't play any defense.
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Injured Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, who may not be able to play in next month's NBA All-Star Game, still leads all players in the latest returns of fan balloting announced Thursday.
We want to glide into the new year nicely, so this first five-pack of 2007 singles out players, five from each conference, who are overachieving, or, at least, playing above what some people thought they might, at least one of those people being me. This doesn't mean they are bad players playing well; in particular, I don't want one of them -- identified later -- to get mad at me. Note that I have left out rookies: Who really knows what to expect from them?
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, who erupted for games of 60 and 54 points in December, was named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month on Tuesday.
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