EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Will Agent Zero be bringing his act to Los Angeles in an effort to heat up a chilly Lakers' offense?
Depending upon who you ask — maybe.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak attended a private workout for Gilbert Arenas on Sunday in Los Angeles. Arenas is a three-time NBA All-Star who was waived in December by the Orlando Magic, who used their amnesty provision to wipe his salary off their books. The Magic still must pay him over $60 million for the next three years, but he no longer counts against their salary cap or luxury tax amounts.
The Lakers would likely pay him the new mini mid-level exception of about $2.5 million should they decide to sign him. But according to coach Mike Brown, if that even happens, it's going to take a while.
"There will be a lot of steps for me as a head coach that would have to happen," Brown said. "And that's before we would add anybody, let alone Gilbert Arenas.
"When we brought Troy (Murphy) to our team, we flew him out here and he and I sat down for a couple of hours and we talked. We then watched him work out, and we talked again, this time to the (entire coaching) staff and Mitch. Then we made a decision. That's the protocol for anybody who's going to come in here. We all have to feel good about him."
Laker superstar Kobe Bryant doesn't need anymore convincing that Arenas should be in a gold and purple uniform as soon as possible.
When asked if he wants Gilbert on the team, he quickly replied, "sure, it certainly wouldn't hurt."
Bryant has been actively recruiting Arenas, knowing that the Lakers need an immediate jump start for an offense that ranks 21st in the league with an average 92.7 points per game, and a bench unit that is last in the league at 20.5 ppg.
At one time, Arenas would have been a perfect fit, with career averages of 21.2 ppg, 5.4 assists and 4 rebounds. But after years of dealing with knee injuries and his game declining radically in Orlando — scoring just 8 points per game — he is a major question mark even though he's just 30 years old. And then there's the infamous 2009 gun charges when he was with the Washington Wizards. Bringing firearms into the Wizards locker room saw Arenas get convicted in court and sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days of halfway house living. On Jan. 27, 2010 he was also suspended for the rest of the season for the incident.
While he's had the same "blood spinning" medical procedure on his knees that revived Bryant's health, there's nothing he can do about the baggage permanently attached to him. For Kobe, though, it's not a problem.
"Everybody makes mistakes," said the league's leading scorer at 29.3 ppg. "He'll be fine."
Laker forward Pau Gasol is also on board with acquiring Arenas — or anyone else that can help the Lakers.
"If we can have a talented player help us and be effective and make a difference, we'll be happy," Gasol said. "We're capable of playing great some nights and not-so-great other times. I think we have a good enough team here right now to contend for a championship, but if the front office feels that there's someone out there that would fit and makes us better, great."
A healthy Arenas would also improve the Lakers' woeful lack of team speed, which hurts them at both ends of the floor — especially when it comes to the back court.
Derek Fisher has slowed down immensely in his 16th NBA season, and while Steve Blake is effective and quick when he replaces Fisher, he's already missed 13 games due to injury. When he's out, the Lakers' point guard position is often moving at a crawl.
But even the chance to bring in Arenas and improve the back court speed isn't quite enough to convince Brown that Gilbert is the right fit, at least not yet.
"Even when I was in Cleveland and somebody told me I could have more team speed, I'd say 'great. I'll take it,'" Brown said. "So for me to sit here and say we don't need more team speed, I'd be lying. But there's not a lot of guys out there who can do that. And the way our offense is set up, I don't necessarily need someone who can go break the defense down and make (individual) plays all the time. Our offense — if executed right — can (take care) of that area."
So would a healthy — and focused — Arenas.
