Revisiting the Arenas-Lewis trade

It's been more than a month since the Wizards traded Gilbert Arenas to the Magic in exchange for Rashard Lewis, and it's still way too early to declare a winner or a loser in that deal (not to mention that the deal was obviously financially motivated). But so far, Arenas is having a much more difficult time adjusting to the Magic than Lewis is having with the not-as-talented Wizards.

Take a look at both Arenas's and Lewis's stats before and after the trade.

When	Gm	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	FG%
Lewis Before	25	32.2	12.2	4.2	1.2	41.9
Lewis After	17	36.1	14.2	7.7	2.8	47.5

When	Gm	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	FG%
Arenas Before	21	34.3	17.3	3.1	5.6	39.4
Arenas After	19	21.1	8.4	2.6	4.1	36.4

Lewis's numbers are better across the board. He's not just playing more minutes and taking advantage of that, but he's also shooting a higher percentage from the field. Arenas, meanwhile, has struggled mightily and is playing the fewest minutes per game of his career. He's also making just 36.4 percent of his shots, which obviously isn't very good at all.

Remember, of course, that this is only looking at the current season and just a small sample of games, so Lewis's numbers could drop off and Arenas could start playing better as he becomes more comfortable with his role on the Magic. But right now, even if the trade wasn't about Lewis replacing Arenas on the roster and making the Wizards better right now, Lewis is playing better overall and is doing a decent job filling in.