Artest to sign with the Lakers

[Bull's-eye]

Ron Artest is expected to sign with the Lakers. The Rockets have reached an agreement with Trevor Ariza, so basically the two teams are swapping players.

[DDBooger]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
Ron Artest is expected to sign with the Lakers. The Rockets have reached an agreement with Trevor Ariza, so basically the two teams are swapping players. man, I was expecting Cleveland to go after one of em.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
Ron Artest is expected to sign with the Lakers. The Rockets have reached an agreement with Trevor Ariza, so basically the two teams are swapping players. And Houston is getting raped in this deal. LOL. More bad news.

[Bull's-eye]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
And Houston is getting raped in this deal. LOL. More bad news.

It's not a deal, both players are free agents. Houston didn't want to sign Artest, could of offered him more money than the Lakers. With the injury to Yao, Artest's value to Houston has decreased. The Rockets know they won't be making a run for the championship in 2009, so they are making moves for the future.

I watched Artest all last season, he will stop the flow of the Lakers offense. He became a glorified 3-pt shooter with the Rockets. At times he was deadly, but there were many games where he just kept chunking & missing shots. His defense is very good, but he does get caught gambling too much. He did have problems with his ankles and was beat off the ball quite a bit. Artest is a ticking time bomb, I worry that him and Kobe will end up clashing.

[forum_guy]

Dude no way. Artest was forced to try and score that much With Houston because they had no one else. He is going to la to get a ring and will bring the defensive mindset that the lakers need. They will be one of the best defensive teams. Be ready for the repeat.

[zebrablue2]

Boy will there be a clash in LA now. Artest had the best deal in Houston.. I say let him go crash and burn. He will not last 3 seasons in LA. JMO...

[forum_guy]

Lol I love it guys keep it up. All I got to say is be ready for the dynasty

[Bull's-eye]

Originally posted by forum_guy
Dude no way. Artest was forced to try and score that much With Houston because they had no one else. He is going to la to get a ring and will bring the defensive mindset that the lakers need. They will be one of the best defensive teams. Be ready for the repeat.

I watched Artest all last season. He is a ball stopper, didn't work in the flow of the Rockets offense. He does hit big shots, but will make you angry with his poor shot selection (remember this). He could possibly get a ring, but there's a chance he could disrupt the Lakers. His defense is over-rated, not what it used to be.

From what I've been reading, the Rockets & the Lakers could do a sign-n-trade and both teams would save their MLE.

[forum_guy]

Artest took less money to play for The lakers meaning he wants one thing, a ring. He will know his role on the team for that reason. Kobe will now have more energy on offense because he won't always have to guard the best player. Artest is best friends with odom from back when they played aau together. There will be no clash only championships.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
And Houston is getting raped in this deal. LOL. More bad news.

WHAT???

no. Artest is getting older. No way he keeps up his current pace for more than 2 years. GOOD deal for the Rockets. they get a player with way more upside than Artest.

[Emerson1]

Originally posted by zebrablue2
Boy will there be a clash in LA now. Artest had the best deal in Houston.. I say let him go crash and burn. He will not last 3 seasons in LA. JMO...
I don't see that happening.

Just heard on the radio Houston offered him a little over 7m and LA could only offer the MLE which is under 6. Him and Kobe have a pretty good relationship. Artest said he isn't in it for the money anymore and wants to win. Which is what he did signing for less money with a superior team.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
they get a player with way more upside than Artest. ok....

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
ok....

artest may be a good player, but he's hit his prime and it's only downhill from here.

ariza is still young and still improving.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
artest may be a good player, but he's hit his prime and it's only downhill from here.

ariza is still young and still improving. Ariza is an average talent at best. Decent defense and below average offense.


His scoring is limited to dunks and jackin up 3's.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
Ariza is an average talent at best. Decent defense and below average offense.


His scoring is limited to dunks and jackin up 3's.

he only averaged 4 less points than artest during the playoffs this year. that being on a team where he was the 4th option on offense, while artest, without mcgrady and yao, should have been the number 1 option. offensively, ariza has more upside than artest. defensively, he may be a little weaker, but he was cheaper and i say it was a good pick up.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
he only averaged 4 less points than artest during the playoffs this year. that being on a team where he was the 4th option on offense, while artest, without mcgrady and yao, should have been the number 1 option. offensively, ariza has more upside than artest. defensively, he may be a little weaker, but he was cheaper and i say it was a good pick up. How many points during the reg season?


And, like I said... 3 pointers. Ariza was hot from the arc in the playoffs, especially in round 1.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
How many points during the reg season?


And, like I said... 3 pointers. Ariza was hot from the arc in the playoffs, especially in round 1.

Ariza was not a starter until the end of the season, so there's no ppg comparison really.

Ariza DID shoot 46% while Artest shot 41. regular season.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
Ariza was not a starter until the end of the season, so there's no ppg comparison really.

Ariza DID shoot 46% while Artest shot 41. regular season. Hm.

IDK, he could be good for Houston, but I think they're losing more than they're gaining.

How much does the loss/sign affect the payroll.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
Hm.

IDK, he could be good for Houston, but I think they're losing more than they're gaining.

How much does the loss/sign affect the payroll.

i'm sure Ariza is cheaper than artest.

face it. with yao and mcgrady done in houston, keeping artest wouldn't make sense. this team is rebuilding, and a young player like Ariza is a good start.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
i'm sure Ariza is cheaper than artest.

face it. with yao and mcgrady done in houston, keeping artest wouldn't make sense. this team is rebuilding, and a young player like Ariza is a good start. Yea, when I made my initial post, I forgot Yao was done, and was hoping they could dump t-mac and keep Artest.


They have to get a Center in the worst way.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
Yea, when I made my initial post, I forgot Yao was done, and was hoping they could dump t-mac and keep Artest.


They have to get a Center in the worst way.

i say wait. chris bosh will be a free agent next year and is from texas. sign a decent player for this season and then get bosh and the team will be in good shape.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
i say wait. chris bosh will be a free agent next year and is from texas. sign a decent player for this season and then get bosh and the team will be in good shape. And do what with Yao's contract? He surely won't opt out next year.

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
And do what with Yao's contract? He surely won't opt out next year.

contract expires in 2010.

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
contract expires in 2010. I thought he had an option after next season for 2011?

[carter08]

Originally posted by TexasHSFB
I thought he had an option after next season for 2011?

idk. i'm pretty sure he's an unrestricted free agent next summer,

[Bull's-eye]

Originally posted by Emerson1
Him and Kobe have a pretty good relationship.

During the playoffs, didn't Kobe hit Artest in the throat? In a regular season game, those two were really going after each other.

:thinking:

[TexasHSFB]

Originally posted by carter08
idk. i'm pretty sure he's an unrestricted free agent next summer, I thought I read an article saying that Yao had a player option and that there was no way he was going to opt out.

[Bull's-eye]

LA Times article:

Lakers make the wrong move going with Ron Artest

Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest, right, has words for Lakers guard Kobe Bryant during Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 6. The Lakers reached a deal with Artest on Thursday.

The champs should have spent more time negotiating with Trevor Ariza and passed on the forward with a volatile past.

Bill Plaschke
11:12 PM PDT, July 2, 2009

Less than three weeks after the parade, the NBA champion Lakers have already met the biggest threat to their throne.

Themselves.

What are they thinking? What are they doing?

They just won a title that would not have been possible without the strong defense and stunning shooting of a 24-year-old kid with a limitless ceiling.

Yet they send the kid packing for an aging nut whose greatest hits have occurred on the heads of fans.

They just won a title with a locker room bathed in the soothing light of unselfishness, teamwork and a quiet temerity.

Yet they cut the power and added the darkest of moods, a guy who has made a career out of hoarding the ball, the attention, and the anger.

Tell me again, why did they get rid of Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest?

Explain to me, please, why they wouldn't even negotiate further with Trevor Ariza before quickly agreeing to sign Ron Artest?

Artest is a better player, but that's not the point.

Ariza was a better fit, and that's what wins championships.

Artest is a strong defender, but if the Lakers need someone to quietly hound a guy during a routine inbounds pass and be willing to make a small play to win a big game, that's Ariza.

Artest is a good shooter, but if the Lakers need someone willing to stand in the shadows for three quarters and emerge to make a big three-pointer before disappearing again, that's Ariza.

Artest will supposedly make the Lakers tougher, but what is tougher than showing up every day and playing hard every play and fighting your way to a championship?

Ariza has a ring, Artest does not, so the Lakers are giving up wins.

Ariza is young 24, Artest is an old 29, so the Lakers are giving up age.

Ariza shot 48% from the three-point line in the playoffs while Artest shot 28%, so the Lakers are giving up clutch.

The one thing the Lakers are absolutely gaining here is money, which is exactly what you will be paying them in increasing increments next season.

Artest will sign a three-year deal for about $18 million, roughly the same annual salary that the Houston Rockets gave Ariza.

But Ariza was given two more years by the Rockets, pushing his total closer to $33 million.

Heaven forbid you would want to give a rising young star two more years, or spend some of your roughly $1 million-per-game playoff bounty to do it!

Jerry Buss should have opened the pockets a little wider. And Mitch Kupchak should have jogged the memory a little deeper.

Remember the last time the Lakers made a postseason acquisition of an aging star that appeared to give them an embarrassment of riches and render them unbeatable?

The year was 2004, and they signed two of them, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, and you know what happened next. By the end of the season, the fractured chemistry imploded in a Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons that was so awful, afterward seemingly half the team either quit or was traded.

Everyone knows how, as an Indiana Pacer, he was suspended for 73 regular-season games and the postseason after going into the stands to confront fans and later punching one on the floor.

A long time ago, huh? Yeah, all of five years.

Did you know that he has also once shown up for practice in a bathrobe, asked to take a month off because he was tired, and been jailed for 10 days for domestic assault?

Everyone said he was a changed man when he was traded from the Pacers to the Sacramento Kings, but he was suspended for a playoff game in 2006 for a flagrant elbow, and the Kings lost that series to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.

Everyone said he changed again when he joined the Rockets, but in this spring's playoff series against the Lakers, he was thrown out of two games while finishing the series hitting 17 of 61 shots in the last four games.

And Trevor Ariza has done what, exactly? Agree to come off the bench? Agree to guard the team's best shooter? Agree to take that shot when Bryant couldn't?

Ariza was more valuable to the Lakers than to anyone else. This was his home, his comfort zone, the perfect spot for a supporting actor to shine from the wings.

[SintonFan]

If Artest hurts the puddles then I say:
Awesome!:clap:

[forum_guy]

people can say that artest will mess up the chemistry all they want. The lakers needed someone other than Kobe to have the defensive intesity. What people dont understand is that Ariza was asking for to much money so why not get the better player in Artest and still have money to sign Odom. Artest is a huge upgrade of Ariza. It makes perfect sense instead of just signing ariza for more money and not being able to sign odom. The lakers are a matchup nightmare for every team in the league as of now. So many guys who can kill you on the post and command a double team. Thats the difference between Artest and Ariza. Ariza couldn't get the ball on the block and punish a defender, Artest can. Not hating on Ariza though.

[SHSBulldog00]

Depending on the severity of Yao's injury he might not play next year or his career is over. The Rockets went after Marcin Gortat from Orlando; but he looks like he is going to sign with the Mav's. Who do they go with now? I would love to see Chris Bosh in Houston when he becomes a free agent.

[Bull's-eye]

When Artest played the 2 guard, he could usually take his defender to the hole. He could just bully himself to the basket. When he is playing SF and being guarded by a three, he had trouble shooting over the bigger player. He got stuffed a lot under the basket, doesn't really have the height or hops.

Artest took a pay cut and is going after a ring. The Lakers already have the talent, so it won't be Artest getting them over the hump. I'm not sure why the Lakers would want Artest, he doesn't seem to fit into their chemistry. From the start, he will be a model player. Down the road, something might set him off. In Houston, he would force the point guards to give him the ball. He became a ball stopper at times & forced too many wild shots. Will he end up clashing with Kobe? What happens when he is not happy playing for the MLE? This is one of the reasons Houston elected not to resign him. They knew that the lack of money would become an issue, just like it did in Sacramento.

[Ex-Tiger2005]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
Ron Artest is expected to sign with the Lakers. The Rockets have reached an agreement with Trevor Ariza, so basically the two teams are swapping players.

i thought ariza would go to the cavs but i dont think artest will stay there long i bet they move him before the season starts!