<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Ron Artest doesn't want to be traded by the Indiana Pacers after all, his agent says. Artest said last weekend that his past in Indiana haunts him, and he is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers. But Mark Stevens, Artest's agent, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Artest holds out hope he can remain a Pacer. "At this moment, we're not going to put the buggy before the horse," Stevens said. "We're waiting to hear from (Pacers president) Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won't have to be a trade." Artest triggered a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans in November 2004 and was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs. Walsh said the latest incident was "the last straw of a lot of issues." Stevens said Walsh told him he is prepared to make Artest inactive with pay for the rest of the season if he can't find a suitable trade. "I understand the frustration as a general manager, dealing with the past incidents with Ron, and I can understand if he sees fit to do that," Stevens said. The NBA fined Artest $10,000 Thursday for making public statements detrimental to the NBA. Artest was a key component on a team expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown. He leads the league in steals and is the Pacers' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points a game.</div> Cant he just make up his mind, i would still not be surprised if he gets traded.
In other words, his agent doesn't want the Pacers to deal Artest or this is part of Ron's plan so he doesn't look like the bad guy in this whole situation.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Air JerseY:</div><div class="quote_post">I wish Ron Artest doesn't get traded, if he oes, Pacers won't be a play-off team anymore.</div> What the hell are you talking about? The Pacers played almost all of last season without Artest and wound up taking the Pistons to six games in the Conference Semifinals. They're also 3-1 without him right now. They've got depth this year with Sarunas Jasikevicius and Danny Granger on the roster, and it's not like they wouldn't get anything in return for Artest. They'll be getting an All-Star caliber player in return, or they won't be trading him at all.
The Pacers GM Walsh, said he was going to trade artest regardless. If he cannot find the deal he wants, Artest will be put on the inactive list for the rest of the season.
Either way I don't see the Pacers staying part of the elite. As crazy as Artest is, he makes them a contender. Whoever they bring in won't be able to replace what Ronnie does on the floor.
Artest should have retracted his statement before he got dinged for the $10,000 fine. The agent is trying to do some damage control for his client, but it's too, late. His teammates want him out, the fans want him gone, and ownership is tired of him.
i have a feeling that somehow hes goin to be back .i think that donnie will try to convince other teams that they don't have to trade him .he'll try to raise his value and then by the time the feb deadline comes if he dosent feel artest is the rite person for the team then he could trade him for more.
Will he please make up his mind? I have a feeling that he wasn't drawling the interest from around the league that he expected and he obviously doesn't want to go to the teams that are interested. He will still be dealt though. No question in my mind, he will still be traded, the talks will still continue because this guy is a headcase this in my mind actually makes it more likely that he'll get traded sooner.
Yeah this new situation sounds similar to the whole TO saga, but if he does get traded, which I think he will, its either going to be a team that wants a ring now, like Miami. Or a less succesful team like Toronto etc.
it's not the end of the world for pacer fans Even though Artest is a dominant player (top 20 though not top 5, please) I don't think losing him would have the impact on the pacers that it would on other teams, simply because this is a Team, they have never put too much focus on one star player. Also is there one guy on this time who takes bad shots? Think about that. There are no clowns on the team. Everyone knows their role. Even on Detroit, Ben Wallace takes some messed up shots from time to time. And Miami has a couple of guys that straight up ruin possessions. Winning it all was always a bit of a stretch, but I think losing Ron at the most would cost them a playoff series but that's it. With the pacers, you have a dominant low-post 2-way player, you have two of the better point guards in the league on the same Team!, you have 2 legit 20ppg scorers (if given the minutes) and guys who can bang around in the paint. With Foster back in the lineup, with great coaching, with an even bigger chip on their shoulder now that Ron is gone, they shouldn't give up championship dreams just yet.
i think he might be good for the Rockets.... we would move him or tracy to shooting guard... and we need permeter defense badly.... we are also tired of bowen's men guarding yao and tracy and him shooting.... everyone would be guarded except for our pf, and pg, and we have players that can make shots...
Ohhh. So thats why he announced it publicly (which did hurt his trade value). If he just told this to the Pacer's organization then they would have traded him to Toronto or Atlanta. He is an ass IMO. I don't want him on my team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">What the hell are you talking about? The Pacers played almost all of last season without Artest and wound up taking the Pistons to six games in the Conference Semifinals. They're also 3-1 without him right now. They've got depth this year with Sarunas Jasikevicius and Danny Granger on the roster, and it's not like they wouldn't get anything in return for Artest. They'll be getting an All-Star caliber player in return, or they won't be trading him at all.</div> lol, got in before me. I think they should keep him, i think he's been given many chances, but make this th elast one IMO
stephen a. smith spoke to donnie who said no way even if he wants back on the team, that's it. all artest can do is pray that utah didn't offer boozer
