FanHouse Gilbert Arenas

When Eddie Jordan got canned from the Wizards, primarily because he mishandled his roster after his starting All-Star point guard missed two years due to injury followed by his starting center going down before the start of this season, most people said the same thing.

"That guy's not going to be unemployed long.'

Today the Philadelphia 76ers made sure that prediction came true, and hired Jordan as their new head coach.

So was it the right move?

Let's take our attention for a moment off the NBA playoffs and look ahead to the 2009-10 season. It was a tough year for several players around the league. So tough, in fact, that they'll have some bouncing back to do next year.

Here are five players – and a sixth man -- who should have the most to prove in 2009-10:

--Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets. Technically, a team with McGrady on the roster – this year's Rockets – advanced to the second round of the playoffs. That would be a first. Except we all know McGrady didn't play in the postseason and wasn't around down the stretch for Houston.

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

Only one NBA team can legitimately claim its season ended before it began. Starting center Brendan Haywood, Washington's defensive anchor, tore a wrist ligament during a preseason practice. The injury basically ensured a mediocre defense would be destined for completely awfulness.

But Eddie Jordan's Wizards have always scored efficiently and frequently. Surely, the offense could save Washington. That'd be nice ... except that a month prior, the team's most potent scorer -- Gilbert Arenas -- had another surgery completed on his knee. His return date went from December ... to January ... to post-All Star break ... to Saturday.

You can understand how Washington finds itself at the bottom of the standings.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

-- [Zach] Randolph laughed when I asked him if he felt the Knicks made a mistake in trading him away. "Yeah," he said with a big smile beaming. "It was definitely a mistake." [...] If they wind up with LeBron, Zach says he can understand moving him. But Chris Bosh? "I'm better than Chris Bosh," he said. -- Alan Hahn on Newday

-- "I retired," Arenas said in the home locker room before Washington's game against Charlotte. "No more blogging for me." [...] "It's just like the double-(edged) sword thing: Eventually your words is going to kill you," Arenas said with a smile. -- Gilbert Arenas

The story of 7th-grade stand-out Allonzo Trier has been dissected in the days since Michael Sokolove of the New York Times published something between an exposé on failed American morality and a heartrending narrative on one family's tight clutch on a dream. (In my humble view, Straight Bangin' has it dead center.)

But in the background -- behind the bills Brandon Roy pays and the breathless scouting reports of this 12-year-old's ball-handling skills -- there's this long-lasting truth: for so many kids, the NBA represents hope. Trier's story might get messy, due to the suits and dollar signs involved. That's not the case in a visit youth players from Kyrgyzstan made to a Wizards game this week.

Wizards fans have seen their team's season completely destroyed by injuries, and of course the biggest name on the club hasn't appeared in a single game all year. But that could change this Saturday, when Gilbert Arenas may make his season debut at home against the Detroit Pistons.

Maybe, that is. Because Gilbert is being his familiar, quirky self when it comes to confirming the details.

As the story goes, Baron Davis worked out a three-year, $39 million extension with Golden State general manager Chris Mullin in June 2008. The deal would have prevented Davis from opting out of his $18 million salary for 2008-09, bringing a four-year total salary to $57 million for the All-Star point guard, a nearly perfect fit in Don Nelson's wailing offense.

But team president Robert Rowell vetoed the deal at the last minute, which caused Davis to opt out. The Warriors, shocked, threw money at Elton Brand (nope) and then Gilbert Arenas. The offer to Gil, a player coming off an injury that had claimed 18 months of service? Five years for $103 million. Arenas and Davis are friends. Soon after Golden State made the offer to Gil, the friends spoke. Monte Poole of the San Jose Mercury News has the post-dated dispatch.

You remember Gilbert Arenas, right? Funny blogger, Halo enthusiast? Liked Obama so much he got a tattoo? Liked swimming so much he built a million-dollar pool?

Oh yeah, and once upon a time, he also used to play basketball. Yeah, that Gilbert Arenas. He hasn't played a single minute after signing an $111 million contract last summer, but according to the Washington Post, he's back practicing at full speed with the Wizards without any swelling or soreness in his surgically-repaired knee.

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action, with a little commentary mixed in. We'll focus on what you may have missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Phil Mickelson Struggles Again -- There is no reason to get totally riled up and make the assumption that Mickelson has gone the way of Ernie Els. Mickelson is still ranked fourth in the world and is a threat to catch fire and burn up future installments of this column. But the idea still has to be brought up: Phil Mickelson could be losing his luster.

After losing Baron Davis to the Clippers, the Warriors decided to throw a barrel of money at Gilbert Arenas in hopes that he'd want to return to the team that drafted him. They offered a max deal worth $100 million over five years, which ultimately paled in comparison's to Washington's offer of $127 million over six years.

In the end, Arenas decided to take a bit less cash ($111 million) from the Wizards to give them more flexibility, but had the Wizards tried to make that decision for him, he might have bolted for his former team. From Janny Hu of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"I was close to going back," Arenas said. "If (the Wizards) would have flinched any, I would have gone back to Golden State. ... My injury, they felt like they didn't have to throw any money at me because there was nobody there. And then they found out (Baron Davis) opted out and realized (the Warriors) were still looking at me.