Ron Artest could… COULD… be a top 5 player in the NBA. He’s a vicious defender. He scores. He rebounds. He finds the open man. He’s 28 years old. And he makes $7.5 million a year. If the name Ron Artest wasn’t attached to all that… NBA GM’s would not just fight over him, they’d climb into the octagon and kill each other to get him.
But the name Ron Artest IS attached to it. And Ron Artest might literally be clinically insane. But the Lakers are considering trading for him anyway… in a swap that would involve Lamar Odom. And because it involves Artest… the move seems like a no-brainer, and a “don’t do it at any cost” trade for the Lakers… all at the same time.
It’s impossible to figure out Artest. He could have opted out of his contract with Sacramento… but he decided to stay… and almost immediately changed his mind. He has been lamenting his own decision to anyone who would listen… blaming his (now former) agent for convincing him not to opt out. He has since followed that up with a series of rambling emails to ESPN… which were so all over the place, ESPN needed more brackets (these things [ ], commonly used to fill in the words that should have been used, so reading something makes sense) than I have ever seen before. Here’s a sample:
“In a way I wish this [coming 2008-09 season] would have been [Theus'] first year and [Adelman] would have left this summer, because it could have showed how much [of] a winner I am. Guys like Rick Adelman and Rick Carlisle [brought] that out of me. Isiah [Thomas] was going to bring that out of me if he didn’t get fired [by the Knicks]. A coach like Phil Jackson can bring that out me.”
Maybe all you need to know about Artest is that he put Rick Adelman, Rick Carlisle, Isiah Thomas, and Phil Jackson all in the same sentence as guys who could get the best out of him. Zeke almost immediately gets the WORST out of people. He could be put in charge of running a convent, and it would become a brothel by the end of the night.
The Ron Artest saga will be an interesting one this offseason. He could make a team better, and worse, at the same time. I’m almost rooting for him to go to LA… just for the potential EPIC Fail that would suddenly exist.
yea but because of how good he could make a team like the lakers i hope he stays buried in sacramento
He could make them better…. but he could also cause their complete demise. No player in basketball has the potential. They could be a 60 win team with him… or they could implode. I don’t know if there is any middle ground.
i would love to see this scenario playout: kobe takes a defensive possession off followed by william, as he shall now be called, chewing the reigning “MVP’s” ass out for his lack of hustle followed by kobe going into a “do you know who i am, im the reigning MVP i have 3 championship rings, who the hell are you” rant
oh the potential
i personally hope Artest comes to LA. For one reason he change an atmosphere of a team by getting everybody to play D. An example of that is when he first got traded to Sacramento change the culture and took them to an 8th spot in the playoffs. Only problem is Mitch is reluctant to part ways with Odom. As for the epic fail I don’t see it happening as Ron has too much respect for Kobe and Phil.
I don’t think Ron Artest will hurt the Lakers at all. He won’t be counted on as much because they have Kobe, Pau, Bynum to lead the team in scoring. Artest will just be there to play some defense. And if he leaves next year we won’t actually miss anything. Would the Lakers sign Artest to a 5 year extension? Who would want that guy on your team for 5 years. I wouldn’t trade Lamar Odom for Artest because Odom is the better player. Plus he’s taller and I wanna see that big lineup next year. Odom needs to go back to the East though and play on Miami again and he’ll be an all-star. That’s why I think the perfect trade is Odom for Shawn Marion if they must trade Odom.
are you kidding me Travis. Artest is a better player all around period end of story just look at the stats.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2008/07/05/lamar-odom-ron-artest/
I saw this post on a Lakers forum talking about Odom vs Artest and came to the conclusion that Odom is really better for the Lakers. I’ll put the highlights here but Lakers fans may want to take a look at it.
Artest Pros: Better Defender, Better 3-point shooter
Artest Cons: Worse overall shooter, doesn’t play well in a offensive system, worse rebounder, takes more games off, potential corruption of young players in the locker room
Artest is just too much of a bad influence to really want around your team. He’s got a contract that should be easy to move… yet trade talks will be difficult. That’s saying something
[...] Ray Allen LOY’s Place It’s a new week rumors and free agent updates Red’s Army Ron Artest is perfectly sane, writes well Is today the day? Sun Sentinel Tyronn Lue narrows choices to three, includes Heat (and Celtics) [...]
He clearly made a mistake by not opting out – even the people who intend on staying opt out. It’s the cool thing to do.
In fact, I’m going to opt out of my job right now!
i agree with reds army. it would be fascinating to watch him on the lakers. there is no middle ground. remember in the ‘04 conference finals against detroit? i think that went to 6 games, anyway it was the final game and detroit had it in the bag and artest lost it for 5 seconds and elbowed rip hamilton hard in the noggin. it was a rough foul and it was clear artest lost his composure. how can that not happen again if he’s under the bright lights in the playoffs, especially in L.A.? if posey comes back and artest lands on the lakers i can see the two of them pulling a mchale-rambis. although if i was posey id run for the exits after the clothesline!