<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird is in Spain on a scouting trip and has been receiving daily updates from Walsh over the telephone. Bird has made no plans to shorten his trip, Walsh said. In the five days since Artest asked for a trade, saying he felt restricted in Rick Carlisle's offense, the rest of the Pacers have distanced themselves from him. Jermaine O'Neal said he'd like to see the Pacers acquire Bonzi Wells or Al Harrington for Artest. Many league executives say Artest might only be a good fit for a coach with a proven track record of working well with players needing extra guidance. Three that fit that mold include Phil Jackson of the Lakers, Pat Riley of Miami and Larry Brown of the Knicks. The Lakers were said by several sources to be one of the teams most interested in Artest, though not to the point where they'd consider trading Lamar Odom. The Heat could trade Antoine Walker, whose salary is almost an exact match for Artest's, while Knicks president Isiah Thomas' refusal to discuss Channing Frye has taken New York out of the running. "I'm assuming I can't get a guy as good as [Artest]," Walsh said, adding that he had no preference for trading Artest to a Western Conference team rather than one from the East. "We're just going through the process to get to a point where we can choose something we like." </div> Source
