Some “crazy news” - pun intended. The Lakers were interested in Artest earlier this season, but now, it looks like there is some liking on both sides. From today’s SacBee…
RealGM: Kobe Bryant has admitted that he wouldn’t mind playing alongside Artest, and there is a growing belief that the strong personalities of Bryant and Coach Phil Jackson could help keep Artest in line.
As a restricted free agent, Ron would have to take a pay cut to the projected midlevel exception of approximately $5.6 million.
A sign-and-trade doesn’t seem to make sense as the Lakers will likely be looking to unload a bad contract like Vladimir Radmanovic.
Artest interested in Lakers? Overwhelmed to say the least…
Heat interested in Marion for Artest; Wade would love reunion with Odom?
Artest considering opt-out? To Lakers?
Phil Jackson Wants Ron Artest
Breaking News: Artest e-mails SacBee about opting out!?
wow how are we gonna get him here
we might have a starting line up of
bynum
pau
odom
kobe
fish next year
what happens if we get artest wtf!!
NO!!!!!!!
BRING ARTEST!
He will behave under PJ and KB.
Artest wants to win and play for the Lakers and he will help enormously our D.
luke and ariza will be backup sf next year most likely
i know odom will start
but maybe if bynum will be willing to start off the bench
so
pau
odom
artest
kobe
fish
sign and trade vlad rad and maybe mihm
umm idk.. wat happens to luke and vlad rad, or ariza we have too much small forwards.. so how is it gonna work and is artest gonna start or come off bench??? and does he want to come off the bench and can he learn the triangle offense
i love this idea…have bynum be the sixth man off the bench..starting five would pau, odom, artest, kobe, fisher
I’d do this if we don’t give up many players. I’m concerned that’ll it will be too much power.
C: Bynum/Mihm/Turiaf
PF: Gasol/Odom/Turiaf
SF: Artest/Ariza/Walton
SG: Bryant/Vujacic
PG: Fisher/Farmar
Odom can be the backup PF. He can possibly win 6th Man!
You guys, he’s a free agent.
“As a restricted free agent, Ron would have to take a pay cut to the projected midlevel exception of approximately $5.6 million.”
We dont need him..yet.If we win the championship(when we win the championship)why screw with that roster?Who are you gonna bench?The team seems to be cohesive right now.Bynum will be back next year.Were good!
oh ok so that means he’d have no choice and take the pay cut??
didn’t we try this a few years ago when we thought another head case (j.r. rider) would reform under the lakers organization? i love the purple and gold, but i think we sometimes get so enamored with the team that we think problem players will shape up in l.a. that thinking is like marrying a stripper and hoping she’ll become a faithful housewife.
get him, bynum 6th man of the year…
fish
kobe
artest
lamar
pau..
Arest will NOT be a free agent unless he opts out of his last year in Sacramento this summer, which he may or may not do (he hasn’t said anything yet. If Artest does opt-out, then he would have to take a pay cut if he wants to play for the Lakers.
Don’t attack me for saying this (which I know people will do anyways) and as much as people don’t like to admit it, don’t be surprised if the Lakers were to agree to a sign and trade with Sac, perhaps even offering LO and his expiring $14M contract for Artest (next year, LO is in a contract year), especially if the Lakers fail to win the championship this year. This may make sense for both sides. The Lakers needs stronger defense and Sac needs a power forward.
Furthermore, if Bynum comes back at 100% he will be the starting center, which slides Pau to the 4, which would move LO to the already congested 3 spot (Ariza, Luke, Radman already there). If Bynum and Pau pick up the rebounding load and Kobe/Pau/Bynum are also the big 3 when it comes to scoring, will LO be needed?
No one will take the long term contracts of Luke and Radman. Ariza, also entering into a contract year next year, is only 22 and will be much cheaper to resign than LO (remember the Lakers are over the cap and still need to resign Bynum, who I believe is a restricted free agent after next season). Also, if the Lakers resign Turiaf this summer, he would be the backup power forward.
Like I said, don’t attack me for saying this. I’m just giving everyone food for thought.
I wish this crap would stop being posted, especially because Artest will not be a Laker anytime soon. Why?
1. Don’t have the money to sign him.
2. They are already have a jam at SF (Luke, Ariza, Vladi, and I guess you could say Odom)
3. Artest + Hollywood = Problem
4. Kobe’s ego + Artest’s ego = Problem
5. 15 more shots for Artest = 6 less for Kobe, 4 less for Pau, 3 less for Odom (giving him -2 shots), and 2 less for the rest of the team = unhappy teammates
This will just never work.
Only if he wanted to play for the Lakers. They cannot afford to sign him for any more that 5.6.
come on!!!! we will officially be prob the best team in NBA history
i’d love this pick up. we can give up raddy, mihm, or both and maybe newble.
starting lineup:
C Gasol
PF Odom
SF Artest
SG Kobe
PG Fish
Bench
C Bynum (cause of knee)
PF Turiaf/Mbenga*
SF Walton/Ariza/Radmanovic
SG Machine/Karl*
PG Farmar
*if they stay
-Kobe’s ego isnt as bad
-Artest hasnt been as troublesome as of late
-2 first team all defensive team caliber perimeter defenders+ Bynum coming back = probably the best defense in the league
-Can use as trade bait if it dosent work out
-Lineup
-Pau
-Odom
-Artest
-Kobe
-Fish
with Sasha, Bynum, Farmar, Ariza/Luke/Vlad, Turiaf/Vlad off bench
tell me that dosent sound phenominal
only cons I see are:
-Stacked SF ( i think we may get rid of Ariza)
-hurt chemistry ( i dont think it will but it could)
If we make this happen, I GUARENTEE you will not be feeling remorse and you’ll be jumping out of your socks. If he dosent wanna give it his all when we get him, we’re STILL probably the best team, so i say make it happen
hey..if he can play defense why not….
As long as we dont unload:
kobe, odom, pau, bynum, sasha, turiaf.
iM cool w/ taking artest.
But take the paycut
Ron Artest needs to be benched.. Odom needs to stay in the starting line-up; he deserves to stay in the starting line-up. We can’t just trade in Artest then start him and taking Odom out of it.. Odom’s been playing like a beast lately. It’ll be like putting Calderon in our starting line-up.
Hell no!!!! If we win the chip this year than he’ll no!!! Exactly wht Bringdfish. Ok as a forward next year is great then defense in Ariza shooting in Vald playmaking in Fluke we are fine. I just want Calderon
Why does everyone want change? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. They are in the WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, the Final Four of the NBA, with very little experience (Only Kobe, Fish, and Luke have made it this far) and one of their best players out (Bynum). If they can get this far with those obstacles, why in the world would you make a MAJOR change to the lineup? Why would you even consider changing your starting lineup unless someone is absolutely terrible?
If Bynum is healthy and ready next season you really think Gasol takes his spot and puts him on the bench?
I’m not a genius at dealing players but this is absurd. If there’s no sign-and-trade and Artest is reported as a RESTRICTED agent, what makes you think Sac won’t match dollars on him if Artest agrees to mid-level salary with Lakers?
MICKAEL PIETRUS,PLEASE MITCH!!!
bring Ron D Don.
lol already made him a new nick……..
Chris, I think a lot of P&G fans are thinking that the Lakers would have to *give up players* in order to obtain Ron Artest, huh?
Dude I’m not even tripping about putting him in the starting line-up.. it really wouldn’t matter for me. Besides.. Radmanovic has had probably 10 good games all year.. and we need to get rid of our excess players that we don’t even use such as Newble, Mbenga, and Karl. I’m down with putting Artest in the starting 5 though.
This is going to be a very interesting off-season.
mihm has said that he would return next year and with this we have even less room to sign another player. as good as ron artest to the lakers sound, if we win the championship (which i feel we will), there just isn’t any need for a change as our roster is already full
a reason why i wouldnt mind pursuing him is bcuz bynum is soon getting surgery..obviously no one knows what may happen afterwards..maybe he’ll bounce back like amare did or he might never get to his promised level like hill..having artest would solidify that initial position and we’d finally have a response for players like lebron and pierce
MICKAEL PIETRUS!!!
Artest wont go anywhere without starting. the way Odom is playin, if he continues, i’ll take him over Artest at SF…as long as he’s willing to take a paycut
all star weekend- NBA vs. THE LAKERS
The Lakers are the best team in the league, we’re in the conference finals right now probably headed to the NBA Finals where we’ll probably win it all. Why are we even talking about this subject?
I believe that Artest can behave with the Lakers, if PJ coached Dennis Rodman then he can coach Artest
I like Artest because the team needs another defensive player, but I don’t see this happening unless Artest will be happy coming off the bench (which he probably won’t be happy). I’d rather have a starting lineup of fish, kobe, lo, pau, and bynum. This line-up is plain nasty with just about three athletic 7 footers on the frontline…no other team in the NBA will be able to match up. We will dominate on blocked shots and rebounds. Trade Vlad, Fluke, Mihm, Newble, Mbenga and get Artest, Calderon, and Pietrus.
PG: Kobe
SG: Ron Artest
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Pau gasol
C: Andrew Bynum
= CHAMPIONSHIP
now before you say kobe would never play the Point, he is basically our point guard as he is our best passer/ facilitator and you dont need oyt be a true point guard in the triangle. Artest gives us another finisher / shooter/ D/ energy guy. if we have to trade jordan farmar.
mikedeezy2k8, why did you dumped dfish in your lineup? what were u thinking? you just removed the heart of the laker!!!! i cant believe u picked artest over dfish!!!!!!!!! your in a wrong site boy…..
you’re* in the wrong country if you STILL can’t distinguish the difference between:
YOUR & YOU’RE
i can’t believe you consider yourself intelligent enough to post ANYTHING on this site! did you learn English in the Philippines?
FYi: we DO NOT need to trade anyone to obtain Ron Artest!
f uck u f ag never trade my boy fish
wow who said anything about trading fish? are u a fukin moron? i said if we have to trade farmar. damn some fukin bozos on here. this is pure speculation, if you have a chance to get a good player you go for it
YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! DO IT….I wouldnt trade vlade radmonovich but i would trade LUKE WALTON for ARTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW, not to through a wrench into the discussion,remember our young players are coming up for new contracts soon.
You know…if Bynum is out for the year (after having the knee scoped and having perhaps found a major problem, yes fanboys that IS possible) I say go for it. Try it. If Bynum is out he’s be a nice “real” SF that we’ve been looking for. Have PJ, Kobe, and his NY pal Odom convince him to come down and help us perfect the dynasty.
Agree with you Mike…..It never hurts to make the team better than it already is
Ya we do b/c we could only sign him at the midlevel exception which sacramento could easily match. Plus if we don’t trade any SF’s to acquire him we would have a log jam at the position. I would only trade for him if we don’t make it to the finals or depending on bynum’s health.
From looking at Artest comeing to L.A.
I see we have to release Ira Newble(sorry Newble but you got to go) to obtain Artest.
I am sorry Artest will have to come off the bench for me if Artest wants to be Laker.
I see this:
PG: Fisher/Farmer
SG: MVP/Vujavic/Ariza/Karl
SF: Odom/Artest/Walton
PF: Gasol/Tariaf/Radmonvic
C: Bynum/Mihm/Mebanga
Maybe Artest has a good shot at getting the 6th Man Award.
If he takes a pay cut and joins the Lakers, that would be cool. If he misbehaves it wouldn’t be too bad. We have a good team with or without him.
i wouldnt mind having him. i saw him on the best damn sports show last week and he seems like hes really changed, even gary payton and sal thought so. they even mentioned that artest was nominated for a citizenship award. also, he has a lot respect for kobe and lamar. he would bring strength and toughness to our defense because he has that “no lay-up” mentality. he would make our team deeper than it already which is good because it seems like we have injuries to important players just about every year.
Hey..a racist over here..Dont take us (Filipinos) for granted..The Philippines loves the Lakers!!!
the possibility of the lakers signing ron artest is very slim, but IF it were to actually happen, it would be a tremendous pick up and a dramatic turnaround for a franchise that looked like it was heading towards rebuilding status in the midst of kobe bryant’s prime years not too long ago.
now, the lakers look like they will be championship contenders for at least the next 4-6 years. this team has good balance of veteran experience and youth, speed, size, length, etc.. but to add ron artest into the mix without having to sacrifice too much would be HUGE.
the current roster is as follows
C- bynum, mihm, mbenga
F- gasol,odom, turiaf
F- radmanovic, walton, ariza
G- bryant, vujacic, karl
G- fisher, farmar
i think the lakers can definitely make things work out if artest is willing to sign for the MLE. we can also package the less attractive contracts of radmanovic and possibly mihm in order to get another veteran big man who can play both F/C positions. but if the lakers can, and i wish this would be possible, try to keep radmanovic and mihm because they are good reserves. mihm gives us an athletic, shooting center when healthy and radmanovic can spread the floor and is a versatile, long player who can play both forward positions.
lakers current roster + ron artest = best team ever, scariest team ever, immediate CHAMPIONS! it may be seen as being “too powerful” if the lakers added artest, but as uncle ben says “with great power comes great responsibilities” and the responsibility is to own the NBA and win the CHAMPIONSHIP!
Artest could be good and may not…. lets talk about changes after the post season is over…
Hey guyz!DCLAKER,I totally agree with you,man!it’s better for us to get MICKAEL PIETRUS than Artest.pls allow me tell you the reason why:
I totally agree with all of you that we need a defender just like Artest but Mickael Pietrus is also a very defender,right?i’ll go for Pietrus because 1st, Pietrus is younger than Artest; 2nd,Pietrus is more athletic than Artest;3rd Pietrus is much cheaper than Artest; 4th,Pietrus behaves well as compared to Artest and lastly Pietrus has no ego as compared to Artest who has… alot. You know what, the only thing that Artest has an edge to Mickael Pietrus, is his experience but i guess that woudn’t be a problem with Pietrus he has a very good work ethics and i’m very sure we can learn that very quickly from his mentors like KOBE,FISHER,ODOM AND PAU.
That’s the reasons why I really oppose to the idea of getting Artest. It’s better if we’ll get MICKAEL PIETRUS,guyz!
I also think that we’ll get Calderon from Toronto coz he fits in our team very well.he’s a born winner that’s why he’d love to be in our team coz our team is a winner,right?
I also would like to suggest that we’ll get Desagana Diop, mosty especially that we are in dire need of a legitimate back-up center for Bynum next season so that Pau will only play the PF position.
So, our line-up for next season will be:
PG: FISHER, CALDERON, FARMAR
SG: KOBE, SASHA, SUN YUE(reserve)
SF: ODOM, ARIZA, MICKAEL PIETRUS
PF: PAU, TURIAF, ROOKIE PF(reserve)
C: BYNUM, DIOP
What do you think,guyz?isn’t it a better and a very powerful line-up for next season?
Just look how good our team would be for the next season:
STARTING LINE-UP:
PG: FISHER
SG: KOBE
SF: ODOM
PF: PAU
C: BYNUM
Isn’t it a great team,guyz? it’s a ” DREAM TEAM ”
SECOND TEAM:
PG: CALDERON/FARMAR
SG: SASHA
SF: ARIZA/MICKAEL PIETRUS
PF: TURIAF
C: DIOP
Our team is as good as our starting line-up,isn’t it?
RESERVES:
SU YUE and our 2nd round rookie pick for this year which i prefer that we’ll get a PF.
If we can’t get CALDERON, then i would suggest that we’ll get a Rookie/Sophomore PG in exchange for our players who are bound for trade next season like: CARL,RADMAN,LUKE WALTON,MBENGA,NEWBLE AND MIHM.
I would really suggest that we’ll get MICKAEL PIETRUS AND DIOP!IT’S REALLY A MUST this summer, MIIIIIITCH.
YEAH SUN YUE THE MAGIC JOHNSON OF CHINA.
We can’t get Calderon because he wants to start. Eh, that’s not possible with our guard rotation.
dude i cant see pietrus as a 3rd string SF and be happy with it…
sac queens wouldnt give artest to us, we are rivals!!! and even if they would entertain the notion, they will ask for an equal talent player. as for him getting a pay cut not knowing if he would be in our starting line up, thats impossible!
so stop dreaming fellas…
calderon is much more obtainable baller and his game is way better than Jfarmar…
not bad for a dude who lives in the Philippines ei…
PURPLE & GOLD BABY!!!
First Artest can opt out and be a un-restricted free agent. Now would he take a pay cut who knows. What we do know is head case players only respect those above them in talent and accomplishments. I.E Kobe and Phil Jackson. Vlade has to go Artest would be perfect in his slot. Most likely the Lakers either trade vlade or but him out even without aquiring Artest. Every team out west will get better … expecting the Lakers just to grow with the same players may not be enough. We are in the position now that adding a veteran player that wants to win like the Spurs do every year we can continue to dominate. Just imagine our bench would be just as good as most teams starting lineups with Bynum leading them and yes Bynum stays on the bench for now. All this talk about dumping Lamar is foolish…Our length is one of our strengths Lamar is the glue down low.
Hey Ron. If you want to win a championship, you take a pay cut and play for the Lakers.
are you also pinoy bro?
Like ab4sure said, it depends on Odoms continued performance in the WCF, the Finals, and his contract situation. Odom could be traded elsewhere for a high 1st round pick in this draft, and Artest signed at the mid-level to start at SF…That wouldn’t be all bad if we could get a top 10 pick and Artest to replace Odom…..
Laker4ever,your my brother from another mother.I couldn’t have explained it better.
THIS IS NOT THE CHICAGO BULLS SO STOP TRYIN’ TO MAKE US OUT TO BE…..WE ARE THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS,REMEMBER THAT!
Let me give an example:
KB=Michael Jordan
LO=Scottie Pippen
DF=Armstrong(forgot 1st name)
Vujacic=Steve Kerr
and if Artest comes…..yep,Dennis Rodman,The Chicago Bulls.
Who can I compare MICKAEL PIETRUS TO…..DAMN RIGHT,JAMES WORTHY OR BYRON SCOTT,NOW THAT’S LAKER PRIDE!!!
Plus I’d rather get JO than Artest(JO being my 2nd option,Artest 3rd).
Now if they get Artest get Pietrus,then i’ll be happy.
We don’t need anyone you whiney fair-weather fans. Suns didn’t NEED anyone and they freaked out and acquired a big name, SHAQ. That’s all Artest is these days, a big name who is desperate. If he takes a huge pay cut and we don’t have to rearrange our roster too much, then it’d work out. Otherwise, develope the youth, get Bynum going with Gasol and Odom and begin the quest for a 70 win season and a championship trophy.
Quit crying.
Guys! Artest can be our ferocious defender and rebounder. Don’t worry abut his attitude. Winning eradicates bad behavior. We don’t have to trade LO. Hopefully, Artest will opt out and be a free agent.
Mickael Pietrus!