It has been a very disappointing few years for Agent Zero of the Washington Wizards as he has either been riding the pine with injuries or causing trouble off the court, but one thing remains the same for Gilbert Arenas, he is getting paid! Not all that long ago, the Washington Wizards made a bold move by signing Gilbert Arenas to a huge seven year contract of $110 million dollars. Now that sounded like a deal that was worth to the team a few years back, but now it looks more like one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history as he has been nothing, but an injury prone, trouble making and seriously overpaid NBA superstar.

Just recently Arenas frequented the headlines due to his locker room altercation with teammate Javaris Crittenton when the two point guards drew their guns on each other after arguing over a gambling debt. Fortunately, the conflict was resolved before and gunfire started, like it would anyway, but the damage was already done as both players were ultimately charged and subsequently suspended for the rest of the NBA season.

Now that Gilbert Arenas has nothing to do, but think about how he put his NBA future and huge contract in jeopardy, the former All-Star point guard has decided to start fresh with a new number by changing his jersey number from number zero to number six.

Ironically enough, the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James also decided to make the change to number six only a few weeks ago as a tribute to hall of fame shooting guard and arguably the best player ever to play the game in Michael Jordan. The reason for the change was because King James believes that the number 23 should be permanently retired in honor of the six-time NBA champion.

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Michael Finely (former team San Antonio Spurs): Of all the NBA free agents available in the second half of the regular season, the San Antonio Spurs recently released veteran guard Michael Finley is arguably most desirable of the lot as he could definitely help out a title contending team or a playoff team looking to fill the roster before playoff time. The one team that seems to be interested in Finley already is the Boston Celtics who always seem to be on the lookout for aging veterans who can help him off the bench like they did with veteran point guard Stephon Marbury last year.

Kenny Thomas (former team Sacramento Kings)

Over the years forward Kenny Thomas has been one of those players that always gives you a solid performance never get much recognition as he has one of the PJ Brown or Kurt Thomas type big men that aren’t flashy, but put up solid numbers.

After being released from the Sacramento Kings, Kenny Thomas is need him second half of the season.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas (former teams Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards)

Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off perhaps the biggest trade or the most beneficial trade before the NBA trade deadline on February 18 by sending center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Washington Wizards in exchange for versatile forward Antawn Jamison.

The trade raised a lot of eyebrows as it was ready obvious that the wizards would just buy out Big  Z’s $11.5 million dollar expiring contract and waive him, 30 days later, the Cavs will be able to sign him once again as they try it on an NBA title at season’s end.

So even though Big Z has gotten interest from teams like the Dallas Mavericks and couple of other teams, he will ultimately end up back in Cleveland.

Larry Hughes (former teams New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings)

in part as a Tracy McGrady trade which sent him to the New York Knicks, veteran point guard Larry Hughes was sent to the Sacramento Kings, but was ultimately bought out and waived.

Unfortunately, Hughes has an injury that will keep him out some time and stopped other teams from pursuing him, but as the season progresses I won’t be surprised to see him land somewhere.

Wally Szczerbiak (former team Cleveland Cavaliers)

This list seems to be filled with four Cleveland Cavaliers players and here’s one more in sharp shooting Wally Szczerbiak who is basically retired, but would consider coming back if it is where the Cavs.

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No matter what happens in the NBA season, no matter how good an NBA team may appear, teams are always shopping and looking to upgrade their squads in any which way they can.

This season the Los Angeles Lakers are coming off their first NBA title in seven years as Kobe Bryant and company were finally able to get back on top with an impressive run in the Western Conference playoffs and the domination of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals.

Coming into this season the Lakers wanted to keep their championship team relatively still intact, but they had to sign both Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza to do just that. Even though Odom hinted to his intentions to play for the Miami Heat for a second time, Lamar was able to strike up a deal with the defending champs and remain with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Defensive specialist Trevor Ariza on the other hand, who really turned into a prime time player last season with the Los Angeles, didn’t resign with the Lakers as he was one of the most desirable free agents in the offseason. With Ariza signing a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets in the offseason, the Lakers took a huge blow to their defense, but were fortunate enough to sign Ron Artest instead and haven’t looked back since.

With Artest leading the defense, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol controlling the offense and Andrew Bynum patrolling the paint, the Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the NBA at 32-9 and are arguably the best team in the league once again.

Despite being arguably the best team in the NBA right now, the Lakers seem to be seeking a trade to get rid of some of their baggage and save some money for the upcoming free agent market in the summer.

The first trade rumor that has been floating around involving the Los Angeles Lakers was the Toronto Raptors sending superstar Chris Bosh to Los Angeles in exchange for youngster Andrew Bynum. This deal still may go down, but no indication this is a done deal has emerged as of yet.

Another trade rumor that has just surfaced involving the defending NBA champion Lakers is a trade with the New Jersey Nets bringing point guard Devin Harris to Los Angeles. It is uncertain who the Lakers would give up in return, but the Nets are definitely going to clear house before the NBA trade deadline and apparently the Lakers are interested in the young point guard.

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