With Baron Davis off the market, focus shifts to Gilbert Arenas

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With Baron Davis apparently on his way to the New York Knicks, NBA teams still in the market for a point guard might shift their focus to free agent Gilbert Arenas, who was waived by the Orlando Magic earlier this month.

Conveniently, Arenas is said to have provided a wish list of places he would like to land. At the top of that list? The Lakers, who are the hometown team for the Van Nuys Grant High product.

The other team’s on Arenas’ list are the Miami Heat, the Knicks (this was before the Davis news broke) and whatever team lands Dwight Howard (which is redundant since we all know Howard will end up wearing purple and gold ... right???).

LAKERS BLOG: Gilbert Arenas a bad fit for the Lakers

No idea where Arenas stands on the Lakers’ wish list, but they did recently try to upgrade at point guard by attempting to trade for Chris Paul, who eventually went to the Clippers. While Arenas is no Paul, he could be an improvement over the aging Derek Fisher -- at least on the court.

But while Fisher is known for his leadership abilities and positive influence among his teammates, Arenas is known for bringing firearms into the locker room, an incident that led to a suspension and his eventual trade from the Washington Wizards to the Magic.

And to help the Lakers -- or any team -- Arenas would have to return to the form he displayed several years ago, when he averaged more than 25 points for three straight seasons (2004-07) before injuries kept him off the floor for much of the next two seasons.

Arenas was on his way to a solid comeback in 2009-10, averaging more than 22 points in 32 games before his suspension. Last year, he averaged just 10.8 points in 70 games with the Wizards and Magic.

Davis is expected to sign with the Knicks on Monday after being waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has missed the preseason with a bulging disk in his back and the timetable for his return to the floor is unknown.

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Lakers look to Jason Kapono and Troy Murphy for outside help

-- Chuck Schilken