Wizards re-sign Jamison; close in on $100 million deal with Arenas

Antawn Jamison is coming off a career year in which he averaged 21.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. AP Chris Mannix's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Chris. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Chris Mannix on Twitter

The Washington Wizards have decided to keep their Big 3 together.

Multiple league sources told SI.com on Monday that Antawn Jamison has agreed to terms on a four-year, $44 million contract to remain with the Wizards. According to two NBA front office sources, the Wizards are also close to a new deal with unrestricted free agent Gilbert Arenas. While the deal is not yet complete, it is believed that the Wizards and Arenas will come to terms sometime this week on a contract in the six-year, $100 million range.

Jamison and Arenas will rejoin small forward Caron Butler in the Wizards lineup. Butler signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the Wizards in 2005.

The decision to re-sign Jamison, 32, and Arenas, 26, is not unexpected. Since signing Arenas as a free agent in 2003, Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld has maintained a strong relationship with his franchise point guard. Moreover, since moving to Washington from Golden State, Arenas has developed into an elite player, earning three All-Star appearances in his five seasons as a Wizard.

In agreeing to terms with Jamison, the Wizards avoid a potential bidding war with Philadelphia and Memphis. The 76ers ($11 million) and Grizzlies ($12 million, after signing Marc Gasol) both have enough money to put a strong offer on the table for Jamison as well as a gaping hole at the power forward position. Jamison will take a significant paycut from the $16.4 million he earned in the final year of a six-year, $87 million contract extension he signed with Golden State in 2001, but despite coming off a career year (21.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game), there was no way any team would have been willing or able to offer Jamison that much money.

While the pending deals with Jamison and Arenas will likely keep the Wizards in contention in the Eastern Conference into the next decade, they do come with some risk. Jamison ($11 million), Arenas ($17) and Butler ($10) will eat up about $37 million of the estimated $58 million 2008-2009 salary cap. As a result, Washington will have to rely on young players (Nick Young, Andray Blatche) to back up key positions. The Wizards also will need center Etan Thomas, who missed all of last season with a heart condition, to make a full recovery.

Still, Washington's options were limited. In a thin free-agent market, both Jamison and Arenas were two of the most attractive commodities. With Detroit poised to make sweeping changes and the Cavaliers, Magic and 76ers young and loaded with question marks of their own, making a strong playoff run with the current Wizards group is a realistic possibility.