Each NBA team’s greatest free agent signing in franchise history
Washington Wizards: Gilbert Arenas, Point Guard (2003-10)
The NBA of 2019 is filled with tiny floor generals capable of scoring 30+ with ease. Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving are just a few of the league’s best scorers, all just 6-foot-3. Before their time, another miniature dynamo set the stage with a style unique to the mid-2000s.
Like Carlos Boozer, Gilbert Arenas was a second-round pick. As a second-year player with the Golden State Warriors, Arenas won the Most Improved Player Award with averages of 18.3 points and 6.3 assists per game, surprising the league after having been an afterthought in the 2001 NBA Draft.
The Washington Wizards would offer the restricted free agent a six-year offer sheet worth about $65 million after just two seasons spent in the Bay Area. The Warriors wouldn’t match, paving the way for Arenas to strike out on his own in the nation’s capital.
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In earning the nickname “Agent Zero”, Arenas would become one of the most dynamic scoring threats in the league over eight seasons with the Wizards.
He averaged 25.0 points and 5.7 assists along with 1.8 steals per game. He would also make three straight NBA All-Star Teams and All-NBA squads from 2004 to 2007.
Arenas’ scoring topped off during the 2005-06 campaign, where he averaged a ridiculous 29.2 points a night.
He would follow that up the next season with 28.4 per game, including the Wizards’ single-game scoring record with 60 against the Los Angeles Lakers in December.
After a seven-year absence, it was Arenas who was the driving force behind four straight showings in the playoffs. If not for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wizards may have even been able to advance out of the first round more than once.
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Lightning quick and could break down any defense, Arenas showed his talents while in Golden State. The Wizards were essentially gifting him the reigns to their offense and allowed him to do as he pleased with the ball in his hands. The results were some gaudy scoring numbers that helped Washington return to the playoff picture.