The spur of the moment cross-country trip by general manger Ernie Grunfeld, coach Eddie Jordan and assistant Phil Hubbard appears to have moved the Washington Wizards to the front of the line in the Gilbert Arenas sweepstakes.

"It was a great meeting, perhaps one of the best we've had so far," a source close to Arenas said of Monday's session in Los Angeles. The source said Arenas, a restricted free agent of the Golden State Warriors, was particularly impressed with the offensive system Jordan implemented as an assistant in New Jersey and is trying to implement in Washington.

"I don't want to give daily updates on how meetings go with different players," Grunfeld said. "But it was a good meeting."

Of the Wizards triumvirate, Hubbard is the most familiar with Arenas. He was an assistant in Golden State last season, when the 6-foot-3 Arenas was named the league's most improved player.

Teams officially can begin signing players today. However, Arenas, according to sources, won't make a quick decision on his future.

The Wizards became even more attractive to Arenas yesterday when the NBA informed teams it was raising the salary cap from $40.3 million to $43.8 million. Before that, the Wizards had approximately $6.5 million in cap space for next season. The new number will give them about $9 million, which means not only would they have enough room to sign Arenas, they would have money possibly to pursue another free agent.