Last night, the trade rumors were flying about Gilbert Arenas being sent from the Washington Wizards to the Orlando Magic, possibly in return for back-up center Marcin Gortat or underperforming and overpaid forward Rashard Lewis. The rumors, reported and corroborated by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, CBS Sports' Ken Berger and Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, described there being a "strong possibility" of occuring. Well, this morning, the parameters of the trade may have changed a bit, with the Phoenix Suns reportedly getting involved.
In the newest rumors, the Suns would send ill-fitting forward Hedo Turkoglu back to the Magic. It is currently unclear what Phoenix would get in return, though Berger's sources say that Gortat is "100% involved" and would make sense for the Suns. One would hope the team is also considering Orlando's injured young forward Ryan Anderson, or perhaps Washington's JaVale McGee or even Andray Blatche -- but none of those players has surfaced in current reports.
Vince Carter has been named in the Arenas talks, however. He is due $17.3 million for this year, the last guaranteed year of his contract. Essentially expiring (he is guaranteed only $4 million next season), Carter could be a valuable chip for the Wizards, who have been long seeking to get out from under Arenas' burdensome deal.
The Phoenix Suns have underperformed this season and, at 12-13, coach Alvin Gentry has expressed his frustration with the roster on a number of occasions. The team appears to be looking to unload one of the many wing players they secured after losing Amare Stoudemire to the Knicks. Jettisoning the four years and $44 million left on Turkoglu's contract would gain the Suns some much-needed flexibility to acquire the size it desperately needs.