Shard can opt out his current deal, and I'm not sure the Pacers are keen on giving him a max contract. Same dilemma with Peja, he's going to opt out as well and I don't think he plans on staying in Indiana. I think the Warriors can put the best package together if they are really interested in Artest. They have a lot of cheap young talent to offer. Toronto could also put a nice deal together, but it might cost them Joey Graham & Mo Pete to get the deal done.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">Just makes you look like a moron actually</div> First of all, I wasn't even serious if you couldn't tell. Second, How is Deaven George, Luke Walton and Kwame Brown for Artest any less moronic?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">First of all, I wasn't even serious if you couldn't tell. Second, How is Deaven George, Luke Walton and Kwame Brown for Artest any less moronic?</div> I found the Tinsley + Artest for Odom one funny. And to be honest, I found Shape's Kwame for Artest straight up swap funny too. Shape I think in the Article they meant Kwame Brown + Bynum OR Devean George + Bynum for Artest <div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post"></div> Why is the jersey so long? It looks like it is for Manute Bol or Shawn Bradley. Or maybe I'm really bad with perspectives when a body isn't present in the jersey.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SkiptoMyLue11:</div><div class="quote_post">I found the Tinsley + Artest for Odom one funny. And to be honest, I found Shape's Kwame for Artest straight up swap funny too. Shape I think in the Article they meant Kwame Brown + Bynum OR Devean George + Bynum for Artest Why is the jersey so long? It looks like it is for Manute Bol or Shawn Bradley. Or maybe I'm really bad with perspectives when a body isn't present in the jersey.</div> Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's fair, I'm just saying, if the deal is Kwame for Artest, go for it.
Indiana's GM is not named Mitch. Let's leave this mess alone til Jerry sells the team or fires Mitch. Even with our lack of bench we're only out of first by two. We need to build up a bench and playing time is the only way to see who can play. Next year we need free agents plus a decent bench to contend.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting whatthef?:</div><div class="quote_post">Indiana's GM is not named Mitch. Let's leave this mess alone til Jerry sells the team or fires Mitch. Even with our lack of bench we're only out of first by two. We need to build up a bench and playing time is the only way to see who can play. Next year we need free agents plus a decent bench to contend.</div> The team won't have any money to spend until Brian Grant's contract expires in 2007. Pending any trades, the roster next year will be pretty much the same except for these players likely not returning. The only money the Lakers can spend is the other half of the MLE (roughly $2.5M). I don't think too, many players are going to want to sign a 1 year deal (because of the 2007 plan) at just $2.5M. And the players who would be willing to sign that deal, we probably don't want anyways. <u>Subtractions</u> - Devean George - Slava Medvedenko - Laron Profit - Devin Green <u>Additions</u> - Ronny Turiaf - Miami's 2006 1st Round Pick - Bobcats 2006 2nd Round Pick - Lakers 2006 2nd Round Pick - Lakers 2006 1st Round Pick (if it's in the top 10 of the lottery)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">So your telling me even if the Lakers do well next year there probably going to suck next year?</div> Well I certainly don't see the current roster winning a championship. I think the Lakers will be a playoff team, and possibly contend for WCF, IF everything falls into place. Lamar Odom plays better defense. Kwame Brown breaks out. Andrew Bynum breaks out. Those are three big IFs, so don't expect another championship run until at least 2007, unless the Lakers pull off a blockbuster trade.
But basically next year were starting over again and trying to teach 4 rookies the triangle offense? This is swell....this is $%#&!^& swell.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">But basically next year were starting over again and trying to teach 4 rookies the triangle offense? This is swell....this is $%#&!^& swell.</div> To be honest, I doubt all those rookies make the roster. It's more important the current core group of players progress all season long (Kobe, Odom, Kwame, Smush, Bynum).
BSPN just reported Artest is heading West. Apparently, the Warriors, Nuggets, <strike>Lakers</strike>, and Sonics are still in the running. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest took to the radio airwaves in an effort to defend his reasons for wanting to leave the team. Speaking to WIBC radio Friday, Artest expressed hints of regret about how the trade talk started. Artest spoke with WIBC's Vince Welch and admitted he might have handled the situation poorly, RTV6's Wil Hampton reported. "I kind of messed up. I kind of did it the wrong way," Artest said Artest told the radio audience that he should have talked with coach Rick Carlisle before going public. "I should have done that. It's important to have a relationship with the coach. Ever since coach got here, I never had a close relationship with him," Artest said. Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh has tired of Artest's antics. "I haven't heard any of the interviews, so I don't know what was said," Walsh said. "When I spoke with Ronnie, I said, 'Look, you've asked for a trade. I'm going to go forward with that.' It'd be in our interest if we both didn't say a whole lot about this." Artest doubted there is any chance he could ever get back in good graces with the Pacers. "I think I've dug myself in a hole and there's no grip. I can't get back up," Artest said. Artest said some of the criticism he has received has been unfair. Former NBA great Magic Johnson said Artest doesn't deserve a second chance in the NBA. "It's like saying, 'Magic, should your wife give you another chance?'" Artest said "He's saying Ron Artest should have no more second chances. What's worse -- me saying I want to be traded or you cheating on your wife?"</div> Artest Goes To Radio To Explain Himself, Slams Magic Johnson Wow, you can officially cross the Lakers off.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post">what is Odom's salary like</div> He's making $11.5M this year and increase by $1M per year until the final year at $14.5M.
Wow, considering Magic is a part owner of the Lakers and the team is trying to aquire Ron, I honestly cannot believe Magic said that. Ever since I started seeing him more often on TV interviews and on T.N.T. he has been doing nothing but getting on my nerves. He is a part owner and should be trying to supporting the team, but instead I often see him criticising the team and/or hurting us in situations like this. When he was on T.N.T. a few nights in a row a year or two ago it almost seemed like he would criticize the team on perpous just so he can seem like a "fair commentator." I don't mind a little honesty but I've heard him criticize or hurt the team a lot more than I've heard support ever since the Shaq trade. I know Magic is one of the main reasons the Lakers are one of the greatest teams in sports, but if hes going to do things like this I would like to step down from the team's front office. A part owner who represents the team shouldn't be going out and making comments like this, especially a player we <u>need</u> to do well in the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Artest and Johnson to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum, Devean George and Medvedenko Most people think that the Pacers would want to replace Artest with Lamar Odom, but two factors could work against Odom: (1) He's a high-maintenance star with a history of off-court issues himself, and (2) he's making $11.5 million this season -- almost $5 million more than Artest -- with three more years to go at $40 million remaining. But do the Pacers really want to take on additional salary by acquiring Odom? A trade involving Bynum would enable them to escape their long-term commitments to Johnson and Artest ($29 million over four years) in exchange for the expiring contracts of George and Medvedenko, who would provide a combined $8 million in payroll relief when they become free agents this summer. George would help Pacers rookie Danny Granger fill in at small forward for Artest, and Medvedenko would give them another big body for the playoffs, but the key to the trade would be Bynum, the No. 10 pick in the draft who could develop into a useful 7-footer by the time Jermaine O'Neal is 30. Remember when Walsh traded All-Star Dale Davis for the untested O'Neal in 2000? Hidden somewhere on an NBA roster -- it might be Bynum, it might be somebody else -- is a young talent whom Walsh and Bird believe could blossom into the next O'Neal. The Pacers may be able to acquire him by using Artest as bait, while trimming payroll along the way. The Lakers need to be careful, however. If Artest wants out because he isn't becoming an All-Star scorer in Indiana, then how is he ever going to get enough shots playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Odom? But those fears would be mitigated by Artest's post-up game as well as his defensive role as the antidote to Manu Ginobili. Any team that dreams of getting past the Spurs needs to come up with someone to snuff out Ginobili -- and Artest is that someone, which explains why every NBA contender should consider taking a gamble on him.</div> This is what SI.COM had to say about Artest, and five possible destinations he could go. If you want to see the full article just go to the NBA section of SI.COM. Anyways, it's a viable trade but looks like Magic messed it up for us.... Thanks magic....thanks a lot.
I know...I've posted 3 times in a row which may be sorta against the rules but I think there valid posts.... Check out what the Daily Dime on ESPN had to say.... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">By Marc Stein ESPN.com You have to be a dice-roller, a certifiable risk-taker, to make a sincere run at the most tantalizing undependable talent since Micheal Ray Richardson. You have to be more than that, actually. To trust enough in Ron Artest to trade for him? You have to be desperate, too. That's why the Indiana Pacers, despite trading dialogue with at least two-thirds of the league's 30 teams, are still trying to close an actual Artest trade. Yet desperation is also why the Los Angeles Lakers, more than any other team in the league, make the most sense as an Artest destination. Don't be fooled by the Lakers' outstanding recent road trip. A 5-1 swing through some tough towns doesn't change the fact that L.A. doesn't have a second franchise player closer to Kobe Bryant's level and lacks an obvious route to find one. The Lakers' plan to sock away salary-cap room for the summer of 2007 (or later) was always a prayer. Now that Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire have signed long-term extensions to stay in Houston and Phoenix, to the surprise of pretty much no one, they're faced with the prospect of waiting until the summer of 2008 on Toronto's Chris Bosh. Or they can try to be daring now and explore every conceivable option for assembling a three-way trade that gets Artest. The Pacers' new-millennium answer to Dennis Rodman wants to go home and play for the Knicks, but what could be more ideal than landing on the opposite coast? I can't think of a coach with a better chance of keeping Artest on the floor than Phil Jackson. This would probably be even tougher for Phil than handling Rodman, without Michael Jordan to help with the policing, but the payoff is arguably greater because Artest is a better all-around player. And Jackson, not surprisingly, is already a big fan. The Lakers, according to NBA front-office sources, made inquiries into Artest's availability in the summertime shortly after the Zenmeister unretired. Those advances were rebuffed, but, as you might have heard, there has been a bit of a re-think in Indy. The Lakers' problem now is that, even though the Pacers are suddenly prepared to part with Artest, they don't have the pieces Indy wants ... even if they were willing to include Lamar Odom. Indiana would prefer to ship Artest to the West, yes, but it prefers more to take back a quality youngster (preferably still on his rookie contract, a la New York's Channing Frye) packaged with a short (or, better yet, expiring) contract. The Lakers actually have plenty of attractive lower-end contracts, starting with Devean George making $5 million in the last year of his deal, but don't have that shining young gun to tempt the Pacers. That's why L.A. would need to pull at least one more team into such a trade. It's about as big as NBA gambles come, of course, but let's face it: Lakers owner Jerry Buss isn't afraid of those. He's the guy, remember, who ordered his general manager, Mitch Kupchak, to trade Shaquille O'Neal. With no guarantee that Bryant would then re-sign. So ... The Lakers have already proven that they're the sort of franchise that would sign up for this challenge. And if there's a more desperate team out there -- taking into account not only the current landscape and long-range prospects but also the level they're expected to play at -- I don't see it. Laker fans, at Laker ticket prices, aren't going to accept a rebuilding project for long, even if the team is unexpectedly churning out gutty road trips. Every team on the NBA map is obliged to consider the possibility of making a bid when the game's best two-way perimeter player becomes available. That said, a top-15 player who can't stay on the court is not really a top-15 player. The Pacers have decided to move on because they're no longer prepared to live with the "What Next?" fear Artest injects into the locker room. The overwhelming majority of Indiana's rivals will pass in fear of infecting their locker rooms. That will ultimately bring us to a daring and desperate handful of suitors. In the Lakers' case, they can keep waiting on a free-agent maybe down the road or try to do what Golden State did last February in dealing for Baron Davis and the supposed health risks. Bet big on a big name from the trading block, in other words, in the belief that it'll click. </div> Pretty interesting stuff.....do you think Magic really has ruined it for the Lakers?
Bad start but good finish for tonights game against the wizards. It felt good to see caron. Dont know why, I just like caron as a laker. But anywho back to the Artest scenario. Some how I got this feeling that Artest might be on his way to LaLa Land. Trading Chris Mihm, Lamar Odom, and Luke Walton for Artest would be sad. But s*!t happens and we Laker fans would love to see artest in a championship uniform. With that said I present you the gurandamnteed Laker lineup pending trade approval: Smush Parker/ Sasha Vucacic Kobe Bryant/ Leron Profit Ron Artest/ Devean George Kwame Brown/ Brian Cook Andrew Bynum/ Slava Madvadenko*
