It's been reported by some Laker "insiders" on various Laker messageboards including LG & CL. No names have been revealed, but one of the credible insiders Lionel the Laker from LG was the first to report the Bender to LA rumor earlier in the summer. He said the deal will be a blockbuster, some will like it, some won't. Based off a lot of hints and speculation the potential deal could look something like this ... (credit to Wolfpaclaker at LG) <u>Lakers trade</u> Lamar Odom Vlade Divac Devean George Brian Cook <u>Lakers receive </u> Jonathon Bender Ron Artest Scott Pollard This deal works under the salary cap, and is in line with the 2007 Plan. This deal would give the Lakers an additional $13Million of cap space for 2007. I'm would support this trade, because Artest would compliment Kobe better, and shores up the defense immediately. Odom being coached by PJax had potential, but I'll take a proven Artest over Odom's potential. However the downside of losing Odom, means the Lakers have to get another ball handler to initiate the offense. I'm not comfortable with McKie or DA being responsible for that role, and I definitely do not want Kobe being the intiator on offense. How do the rest of you feel about the deal?
Can the personalities of Artest and Kobe co-exist? Kobe is trying to develop into a vocal leader and I really can't see Artest falling in line with that. If Artest doesn't fall in line, it makes it much more difficult for the others to follow as well... In addition, we lose our only legit rebounder .. so yea, I really dont like this trade
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting notMuchgame:</div><div class="quote_post">Can the personalities of Artest and Kobe co-exist? Kobe is trying to develop into a vocal leader and I really can't see Artest falling in line with that. If Artest doesn't fall in line, it makes it much more difficult for the others to follow as well... In addition, we lose our only legit rebounder .. so yea, I really dont like this trade</div> The Kobe-Artest dynamic should work, Artest actually has a lot of respect for Kobe and vice-versa. The year off hopefully matured Artest, and I think their competitive approach to the game will rub off on the rest of the players. Artest will get the Lakers at least 6 boards a game, and is capable of averaging 20PPG. Chris Mihm & Kwame Brown will have to step up and control the boards for the Lakers. If Pollard can stay healthy he could come off the bench and average 6 or 7 boards. PG - Huge question mark ??? / Smush / Vujacic SG - Kobe / Wafer / Profit SF - Artest / Jones / Walton PF - Kwame / Bender / Slava C - Mihm / Pollard / Bynum Depending who the Lakers can get a PG, I favor this roster and the additions over Odom-George-Cook.
the pacers get shafted man. why would they want to lose the former defensive player of the year aswell as a player theyve invested so much money in to for odom and change C-Foster,Divac,Harrison Pf-O'neal,Cook,Austin Sf-Odom,Granger,Jones Sg-Jackson,Freddie Pg-Tinsley,Sarunas,Johnson that is if divac decides to play.No i dont think so unless the lakers part ways with some money aswell,which would alow the pacers to sign dale davis.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting eyes only:</div><div class="quote_post">the pacers get shafted man. why would they want to lose the former defensive player of the year aswell as a player theyve invested so much money in to for odom and change</div> This trade would be great for the lakers, and in responce to eyes only..im sure that the reason they would like to trade him is because there sick of all the trouble hes made them deal with, and they want the team to have a posotive look.
Personally I think the trade is fare, for both teams. In actuality the advantage is more towards the pacers. The addition of Odom could turn out to be monumental for them. The fact that he takes pressure off of an injury prone O'neal is major. Odom gives them a low post option (at the s/f) as well as a post up player with passing skills equal or better than Webber who is probably the best passing big man in the East. He causes huge match up problems for the likes of Prince,Posey/Walker,Jamison,Deng,Pierce,even Marshall or James. the only likley equel "matchup" is Charlie V if they decide to play in at that position. Also with Odom <u>and</u> Devon George ,Bird wont have to expose Danny Granger. Clearly there is something wrong with this dude if 16 general managers passed on him,and toranto chose Graham who was ranked below him. Lets not forget he did not play a lick this summer.Finally if the Divac thing works out and he plays, believe me "Eastern Conference Champs", if not...cut him and use the money on Dale Davis since thats whats keepin him form signing,Gold star for Bird.
Oh yeah by the way, thanx for sparking an intresting trade scenerio. This summer has been lame so far, and what do we have to look forward to......the posibilty of Aaron Mckie(FUN).
didnt the pacers say already that they have no intentiosn of trading artest. i personally dont like this trade for the either the lakers or pacers the lakers are giving up odom, george who is healthy will do decent off the bench, and cook a 3rd year big man for ron artest someone who almost has a bigger ego than kobe but the pacers are giving up a allstar calibar player for a decent player in odom a potential big man and a risk of taking george cause of injury
I don't no what to think of this deal. As MR BRYANT said, its fair for both teams. This deal is logically good for the Lakers and Ron would make a better SF then Odom. He's a better scorer and better defensivly. He could be the Dennis Rodman of our team except with more offense at SF. He's not as good as Lamar on the boards and we don't have anybody else that could pull up 10+ boards. Except, if all goes well, we could have Kwame Brown doing this for us. Lamar does have 3 inches on Ron, but Ron makes it up with his solid defense. Both him and Kobe would get along well, as both need to prove a point. Infact, the same goes for Kwame Brown and possibly Andrew Bynum. Kwame, Kobe and Ron means that our defense would be pretty solid and we would only have to worry about the point guards and centres getting the points. I believe that Kobe, Kwame and Ron could keep their men below 20 points. How many Points and Centers in the NBA score 20+ points? Not many. For Indiana, imagine the duo of Jermaine O'Neal and Lamar Odom? Between the two players they could get 20 rebounds and 40 points. Anyway this happens, it would be interesting for how the situation pans out for both teams.
I'd jump at this trade. Ron is very young and can score as well as defend. If this deal goes thru, I'll jump for joy. Im a huge fan of Artest.
I wouldnt do it. I think Odom can be great under the triangle, and I would definetly not want a player like Artest on the team. I doubt that Artest has matured during the summer. Secondly, I would rather focus on filling the PG hole than looking for 2 big guys, even though we need them too.
/i understand the part about odoms potential in the triangle...but i think artest HAS matured or at least he wont jump into crowds anymore. When he's not in trouble, his intensity would be great for any team
*I highly doubt this will happen but.....* I support this trade, Getting Ron artest would be a HUGE addition to this team. Any team with Kobe AND ron ron could not miss the playoffs. They are just too hardworking and competitive to not get there. Lamar is good, no doubt about it- but he probably won't average as many rebounds (if he stays with the lakers) this year anyways. He will be on the wing more, playing SF. Plus having a true PF now (Kwame Brown) he won't be relied on to rebound as much. Back to Artest, The offense he would bring takes a huge load of Kobe, as does his defense. Every team needs a hustle player and Ron is that player, not to mention he's an allstar caliber player. This could potentially be the starting lineup next year: PG- Derek Anderson SG- Kobe Bryant SF- Ron Artest PF- Kwame Brown C- Chris Mihm That is a pretty highscoring, and defensively capable lineup. KB8 and Ron Ron are the only true defenders in that squad, but they more than make up for the shortcomings of the others. That looks like a playoff team to me.
If the Lakers get ron artest and kobe on the same Team the lakers will definatley make it to the playoffs. Kobe and ron are The two most hard workings guards in the NBA. If this happens They are gonna make the James Huges combo look like sh!t. Nothing against cleveland but Huges is suspect. If this trade were to occur, expect high ratings and a national televised game when they meet. GL Lakers!
We should keep in mind, the reason for Odom's "poor performance" from last year was that the team was literally handed over to Kobe by the coach. Now that Phil is back, he is going to take controll and we are going to see the old Odom if not a BETTER than ever one. Plus I don't think Artest and Phil could co-exist.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting eyes only:</div><div class="quote_post">the pacers get shafted man. why would they want to lose the former defensive player of the year aswell as a player theyve invested so much money in to for odom and change C-Foster,Divac,Harrison Pf-O'neal,Cook,Austin Sf-Odom,Granger,Jones Sg-Jackson,Freddie Pg-Tinsley,Sarunas,Johnson that is if divac decides to play.No i dont think so unless the lakers part ways with some money aswell,which would alow the pacers to sign dale davis.</div> The Pacers are trying to save money because their payroll is well over the salary cap. Divac is going to retire, but he has a cheap $2M buyout, but will save the team $4.5M. Devean George is another expiring contract, and Brian Cook is still on his rookie contract. I think it's a fair deal for both teams, and the Pacers get a quality player back for Artest. When Odom was in Miami, he dominated in the East. Teaming him with JO is going to be a strong 1-2 punch for the Pacers. The Pacers also have a triple threat stud in Danny Granger. If the Pacers go to a small lineup with Odom-Granger-O'neal on the floor at the same time, they are going to give teams a lot of match up problems. Even though Reggie Miller was a big part of it, the Pacers got into round 2 of the playoffs without Artest last year. So they know they can win without him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The trade could be just a start for the Pacers, as they attempt to get closer to the $61.7 million luxury tax threshold. Teams that exceed that amount will pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on the excess. The Pacers are about $10 million over. Fred Jones and Anthony Johnson have been mentioned in trade rumors this summer. Center Scot Pollard also is a possibility because he's in the last year of his contract.</div> Source Don't want to jump the gun with this blurb I found, but it's clear the Pacers want to get under the luxury tax threshold, and the Lakers have the expiring contracts to make it happen. I was surprised to see Fred Jones being shopped around, since he's still cheap at only $2.3M per season. I wouldn't mind the Lakers working him or Anthony Johnson into a deal. Fred Jones is defensive minded, athletic, and has a ridiculous wing span. He also has good size at 6-4, 218lbs, which makes him ideal for the type of guard PJax likes. <u>Lakers trade </u> Lamar Odom Vlade Divac Devean George Brian Cook <font color="DarkRed">Slava Medvedenko</font> <u>Lakers receive </u> Jonathon Bender Ron Artest Scott Pollard <font color="DarkRed">Fred Jones or Anthony Johnson</font> Maybe the Lakers can throw in Slava for either of those players to save the Pacers an additional $3Million.
that would be a dream come true. we would get our defensive stopper so kobe wouldn't have to it. i would be happy if this happened, if you people remembered, artest was having a superstar this year: 24 ppg 7 rpg 3 apg 2 spg that's insane, this would make me so happy to get him. nto to mention getting artest for his contract would be murder, the guy only make 7 milll a year and is signed thru 2009! that will def keep cap space open....
