Gilbert Arenas-To-Magic Talk Heats Up Again; Deal Could Happen Saturday

Weeks ago, our Magic blog, Orlando Pinstriped Post, reported that the team was in talks to acquire the Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas. The noise died down on the story until Friday, when multiple sources reported that a trade between the Wizards and Magic, with or without Arenas, could go down as soon as Saturday. From Orlando Pinstriped Post:

A reliable source has indicated to Orlando Pinstriped Post that the Orlando Magic could make a trade using “major pieces” as soon as tomorrow, pegging the chances of such a deal occurring at “70-to-80, almost 90 percent.” This news comes shortly after Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the Magic and Washington Wizards have moved close to a trade that would send Wizards shooting guard Gilbert Arenas to Orlando, likely in return for Vince Carter and a combination of “longer-term contracts” including backup center Marcin Gortat.

On-court, Arenas has shown frustration as of late, having earned a technical and committed a bad foul near the end of the Wizards’ loss to the Spurs on Thursday night. Over at Bullets Forever, Mike Prada says that while he loves Gil, trading him away could be for the best at this point.

Meanwhile, Orlando Pinstriped Post dwells on Arenas’ potential value for the Magic:

Indeed, concerns abound about Arenas’ fit with the current Magic club, given his inefficient offense, well-documented inattentiveness on defense, and his contract.
[...] On the other hand, Arenas has still shown he can get a shot off. Perhaps too well. But on an Orlando team with a stagnant, unimpressive offense so far this season, Arenas could provide a perimeter scoring option, though I contend that Carter is still better suited for that task than Arenas.
We’ll update this StoryStream if and when talks between the two teams progress. In the meantime, be sure to check out Orlando Pinstriped Post and Bullets Forever for all the latest.