Don't think for a second that anything silly is out in regards to the Los Angeles Lakers. This franchise feeds off the crazy and insane.
The franchise that will rely on the manic star Metta World Peace off the bench and that sent off the reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom for a handshake and a hug should consider something else wacky, and that's Gilbert Arenas.
This might be a loony idea, but it's a shared one, as Lakers beat writer Brian Kamenetzky writes for ESPN in the Land O'Lakers blog.
It's time to dispense with the notion that normalcy and logic will win the day for the Lakers. This team just gave up the most versatile player in the NBA and has still given no good reason for it.
So I take what Kamenetzky has to say with a great amount of hope, because these Lakers are just crazy enough to pull the trigger on something like bringing in Gilbert Arenas:
Arenas is, far as I can tell, the only (potentially affordable) free agent out there who can still score a little, and create a shot for himself (even if not like the days of yore) and teammates alike. ... They'll learn the system, they'll learn each other. It'll take some patience, but it'll happen. But at the risk of making sweeping judgments following one preseason game, the Lakers can't bleed rocks.
In Marc Stein's ESPN report on Dec. 18, Arenas admits that the Lakers are on the short list of teams he would enjoy playing for. In the same report, Stein concedes that the Lakers might not make the move because things are touchy at the moment.
I agree more with Kamenetzky, who essentially states, "So what?" The Lakers have no viable backup to Kobe Bryant. With Shannon Brown and Odom gone, you take a great deal of extra scoring off the court as well.
Arenas may not be what he used to be, but he doesn't have to be for the Lakers. He can give just enough to fill in the scoring cracks left vacant by previous odd front-office decisions.
The Lakers have been thinking out of the box for a while now, and it's time they continue to do so by bringing in Gilbert Arenas.
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