Photo of Gilbert Arenas by Kyle Gustafson

True to his word, yesterday Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas opted out of the final year of his contract, leaving $12.8 million on the table in the hopes of signing a longer and more lucrative deal. Whether that will be with the Wizards remains to be seen. Arenas played only 13 games this year, his season cut short by a nagging knee injury, leaving open the question of whether any team will pay top dollar for a player who has not yet demonstrated that he is fully healthy.

Depending on which day you talk to him, Arenas either wants to be paid like one of the top players in the league or wants the team to take care of free agent Antawn Jamison before they turn their attention to him. Jamison made over $16 million last season. He’s no doubt overpaid, but is also the emotional leader of this turbulent team and just turned in what was perhaps his finest season as a pro, averaging over 21 points and 10 rebounds per game. Reserve Roger Mason Jr. is also a free agent and will be looking for a significant pay raise over the $770,610 he made last year.

So if you are Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld, what do you do? Keep in mind he has a history of letting people leave rather than over pay them. Just ask Jared Jeffries and Larry Hughes.