Arenas

Orlando Magic guard Gilbert Arenas goes one-on-one with ESPN.com's Michael Wallace.

Q: Caron Butler, one of your former All-Star teammates in Washington, said last week that he saw you smiling, relaxed and just comfortable in your own skin for the first time since before all the drama that stemmed from the gun incident in the Wizards' locker room last year. Does that accurately describe your demeanor in the aftermath of this trade?

A: Yeah. A weight has been lifted. A big, big, big weight. [Exhales.] It's just, you know, just the things I've seen in the last year and half really got me depressed. So just being in another city, it was just time. Being there [in Washington] eight years, it was just time. It was just one of those things.

Q: A lot of time has passed since the fallout of the incident, since you were sentenced to serve time in a halfway house, since your release and return to the public eye. How often do you still reflect on the darkest moments of that ordeal?

A: I reflect back on it and, put it like this: I've seen worse in our locker room.

Q: Worse than guns being drawn by teammates in a locker room?

A: A lot worse than that.

Q: A lot worse, like what?

A: I can't really go there. It was just, you know, it's like -- it was funny then, and it's funny now. [Former Wizards center] Brendan Haywood had said something after [late Wizards owner] Abe Pollin died. He said, 'There goes your protection.' It was funny. And now, it's funny to think about it. He was, 'There goes your protection,' and, 'He can't protect you no more.' And that's how it felt, going through the whole thing. I don't know.

• Click here to read the rest of Wallace's one-on-one with Arenas

Through the end of November, the Houston Rockets were averaging 0.6 points per 100 possessions fewer than their opponents typically allowed, making them a slightly below-average offense. In December, Houston has scored 6.0 points better than their opponents' average per 100 possessions. Only the San Antonio Spurs have an offensive rating so much higher than league average over the course of the season.

Even averaging their slower start with their stronger recent play, the Rockets rank eighth in the NBA with an offensive rating of 111.5 points per 100 possessions. The most recent time Houston had one of the league's 10 best offenses was 2000-01, when Steve Francis led a young core that placed the Rockets sixth in the NBA in offensive rating. Under Jeff Van Gundy, who arrived in Clutch City two years later, and current coach Rick Adelman, Houston has won almost entirely with defense. The Rockets' best offensive team of the past decade was the 2006-07 squad, which was slightly better than average. The Houston team that won 55 games and a playoff series in 2007-08 ranked 17th in the league in offensive rating. So if the Rockets are to return to the postseason after a one-year absence, they'll do so with an entirely different formula for winning.

• Click here to read the rest of Pelton's weekly Trend Watch

James

This is a good starting point for the contraction debate, because the whole discussion has always been more about perception than reality, and certainly more about romance than reality.

The idea that we could recreate the Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the 1980s if we just had fewer teams is silly on multiple levels.

For starters, please note that a pretty great Lakers-Celtics rivalry already exists. Not sure if anyone's noticed, but those two teams met in the Finals earlier this year and in 2008, splitting two series and 13 games as evenly as possible and setting some pretty high marks for TV ratings and Internet traffic. Also, some might note that Boston has five starters and a reserve with All-Star appearances on their résumés, just like they did in the good ol' days. In fact, in terms of All-Star appearances, the current Celtics are the single most decorated team in NBA history.

• Read the rest of Hollinger's PER Diem