Gilbert Arenas pulled a trick out of Kobe Bryant’s PR playbook over the weekend, trying to worm his way back into the NBA spotlight (during the Finals no less) by informing everyone that he intends to exercise his player option after next season and look to sign a new, more lucrative contract extension. But don’t worry folks, it’s just business. “To me, it’s just a smarter business decision to play next season, opt out…

After getting handled by the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday afternoon, the Wizards did their best to step up their game. It would be hard to argue that last night’s showing was not a step up from Sunday’s dreary performance. The Wizards increased their point total by 20, but the end result was the same: another L in the books as Cleveland rode a strong performance by Drew Gooden (of all people!) for a 109-102 victory. Gooden…

After a three game losing streak, who would have thought a match up with the Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of the second best record in the NBA going into Saturday night, would be just what the doctor ordered for the Washington Wizards? Both teams were coming off games on Friday; the Wiz lost at Detroit and the Cavs pounded the hapless Timberwolves at home. In this topsy turvy start to the NBA season, the Cavs…

Leading into last night’s Wizards game, we’d all heard so much about Gilbert Arenas dropping 41 (then a career high) on Larry Hughes the last time they faced each other on opposing teams, that you just felt the Wiz were due for a letdown on the road in Cleveland. Sure enough, Arenas, fresh off being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week following his 43 point outburst against San Antonio, shot 4-for-17 and dropped a…

The Washington Wizards, fresh off of their first playoff trip in many moons, return to action tonight when the team travels to Toronto and tips off against the Raptors at 7:00 p.m. The Wiz had quite the offseason. They lost Larry Hughes, Juan Dixon and DCist fave Steve Blake in free agency and traded star-crossed former No. 1 pick Kwame Brown to the LA Lakers for Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins. Free agents Antonio…

It’s been a good summer. For DCist it has, anyway, filled with cheetah cubs and buttersticks, Nats games and Borf sightings, and lots of sweaty, booze-soaked cookouts. But fall is coming, people, and it’s time to put the flip-flops aside, say goodbye to the interns, and fill out your autumn dance card. DCist humbly offers the following suggestions. Oh, they grow up so fast. One day they’re lil, playing hoops and making MTV videos, the…

The Wizards just took another step in recovering from the departure of Larry Hughes by agreeing in principle to a deal with Antonio Daniels reportedly worth $30 million dollars over five years. The addition of Daniels, who played the last two years in Seattle for the Supersonics and was highly sought after by the LA Lakers, figures to give coach Eddie Jordan some flexibility with his line ups, particularly in the backcourt. Daniels can…

The first rule of the NBA offseason? Resign your own free agents. Dealing a major blow to the team’s playoff aspirations for 2006, today Jeff Wechsler, agent for Wizards guard Larry Hughes, told ESPN.com that Hughes will not return to Washington next season, opting to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers instead. Hughes, a free agent, was expected to return to Washington to build upon the team’s first appearance in the 2nd round of the playoffs…

Shaq or no Shaq, the Wizards fell once again to the Miami Heat on Saturday and with it brought the end of their season. We could pull a Tony Kornheiser and run around screaming “Remember the Caps?” or listen to Mike Wise when he says that a “bright future” doesn’t always turn out the way you envisioned it. We could do that, but we’re not going to. Instead let’s focus on what the Wiz…

We all know what happened in the last round of the playoffs when the Washington Wizards recovered from a distastrous pair of opening games before righting the ship and vanquishing the Chicago Bulls, but DCist is going to go out on a limb and say the outlook isn’t quite so rosey this time around. After all, we don’t expect Dwayne Wade to pull a Ben Gordon and disappear for games at a time. In fact,…