And people say the Gasol trade was one sided?
ESPN: Ron Artest is not going home to play for his beloved New York Knicks. Artest didn’t get the fairy-tale trade to join his Southern California buddy Kobe Bryant, either.
He’s also not complaining.
Artest was unmistakably giddy in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a phone conversation with ESPN.com as he discussed his forthcoming trade to the Houston Rockets.
“I’ll be a kid in a candy store,” Artest said. “I’ll be a kid in a store with a lot of candy. I’m going to dance with the stars.”
Instead of the trade to Hollywood to Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers, as many around the league expected, Artest is headed to Houston for a reunion with Rick Adelman, who ranks as his favorite pro coach.
In a swap first reported Tuesday night by The Houston Chronicle, Sacramento has agreed to part with its rugged but controversial swingman in exchange for a first-round pick in 2009, newly drafted Rockets rookie Donte Greene, Kings alumnus Bobby Jackson (and his salary cap-friendly contract) and a first-round pick in 2009.
Artest “Not Opting Out” according to local Sac news station
Kobe has no comment on Artest to Houston trade
Breaking News: Artest e-mails SacBee about opting out!?
Ron Artest update: More trade, name, agent news!
Lakers, Kings Not Talking About Artest?
wowowowwowowowowowow
F*** Me!
umm wow.. u can see kings still hate us.. and this trade sucks…watever just destroy the rockets
NO!!!!!!!!
This move is going to make Houston an even stronger opponent now.. look at their roster!!!
12 Rafer Alston G 6-2 175
31 Shane Battier F 6-8 220
Ron Artest
1 Tracy McGrady F 6-8 223
11 Yao Ming C 7-6 310
17 Brent Barry G 6-7 210
3 Steve Francis G 6-3 210
Donte’ Greene F 6-11 226
44 Chuck Hayes PF 6′6″ 238
2 Luther Head G 6-3 185
14 Carl Landry F 6-8 248
55 Dikembe Mutombo C 7-2 260
20 Steve Novak F 6-10 208
4 Luis Scola F 6-9 245
Wow.. that is all I can say.. Lakers front office.. are you there???
chron.com???
{Profanity isn't allowed on theLakersNation.com -- Please go back and edit your comment. Thank you.} ME SIDEWAYS!!!!!!!!!!
I hope he ruins their team chemistry or something, NO WHY NO WHY!>!>!?!?!
Should have known, never to trust the queens. -_-
this is so ridiculous.. idk if i should even believe it… that is a hundred times worst than the pau gasol deal….. at least they got cap room, and a very talented young Javaris, and Marc Gasol.. this deal just makes absolutely no sense…. and idk who houston would start.. alston, mcgrady, artest, scola, battier and yao.. thats scary
mitch? what did you do?
This has to be a false story.
alright just saw the ticker on ESPN… errrr
OH GOD, OH MAN, OH GOD, OH MAN, OH GOD, OH MAN, OH GOD, OH MAN…
mcgrady, Yao and artest sounds good..
doesn’t matter guys lakers will be # 1 again..
that sucks… the west is even more powerful with that trade.. all the good western teams have a trio
What this trade shows me was we had no intentions of trading for Artest or the Kings had no intentions of trading with us. I seem to think the Latter, even without putting Odom in the trade, we could have gave them something just as good as that trash the Rockets put together.
Well all you idiots who want the lakers to keep Odumb you got your wish. Now we will see this was a big mistake. I’m glad Houston got Artest. Our front office is a joke. So are these stupid Odumb fans.
ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE!!! LOL
KILLING US AND LAKERS HERE FRONT OFFICE!!!!!
DO SOMETHING!!!!
The refuse to believe it until I see it on ESPN or elsewhere; otherwise, this obviously sucks.
GET MARION!!!!!!!!!
wow this cant be right because i check espn.com and nba.com and nothing is there so idk but it is ok i still like odom
thats ok boyz, now we have a reason to trade for tayshaun, shane battier or josh smith…
ISNT THE SHAKING WAKING U UP FO DO SOMETHING @SS HOLES
wtf…
Guys keep in mind that it isn’t mitch’s fault if this went through. It’s up to the Queens to deal with the Lakers. We can offer the world but if they say no then it’s a no. Oh well, I think that our main 4 will still be tough to beat especially if it’s moving and working on all cylinders.
wow.
the west is REALLY tough.
yeah.. the queens didnt want to deal within their division..
i hope odom would have a break out year…
For those who don’t know (OR STILL IN SHOCK,HAHAHAHAHA).
http://www.hoopsworld.com/!
Odom having a break out year???? I’ll be happy if he learned how to use his right hand and right side of the court.
at least he is not a laker….we could have given them vladi and mihm though
lol. yes, thank god artest will no longer be considered for the lakers. houston is going to have a big problem, let them deal with that mess. now the lakers can squarely focus their attention on getting the matrix, prince or josh smith. I say the lakers should try to get josh smith.
thATs a S*** trade
Nothing like the Ice Cream Man to give us a COOL perspective.
TIME TO CALL CHI-TOWN!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MYEdfxzFaX8&feature=related!
as lopsided as this trade is and as unhappy as i am with this trade going down (esp benifiting a team that i dislike a lot), i was losing faith in getting artest and also losing faith in artest working out with us anyway..perhaps we can look to acquire a better sf or staying the same to see how we do with the current lineup
That is one lopsided trade. This is exactly the same situation as the KG trade. Lakers offered more than Wolves/Rockets did respectively but both Celtics/Kings rejected the deals.
I do hope people out there realized that this is not Mitch’s fault. Mitch tried to make the deal work. Just like before (when he offered Odom and Bynum for KG), he made a good offer to the kings (odom for artest). Looking at the first round pick the Kings get in the trade confirms that Kings hate Lakers. How is that first round pick going to be useful if the Kings just made the Rockets a West powerhouse?
Sorry for the double post but I’d like to add…
WOW, Rockets now have Battier AND Artest to guard a Kobe/Lebron/Wade/Pierce/Anthony…unbelievable..
Alright, ESPN is reporting it. It’s cool, at the least it solidifies another Pacific Division title for the Lakers and a top 3 playoff spot. Let the Southwest Division kill itself.
Our team is fine. FISH,KOBE,ODOM,GASOL,BYNUM = RING!
Better do somethin Mitch…
My Laker friends we now have a reason to be worried. Last year we made out of the West with ease, like it was a joke. Now the Lakers chances of making it to the Finals just go slimmer. Oh crap! This sucks! Houston will definitely be troublesome. Their big 3: McGrady, Yao, Artest. Don’t forget they have players who can potentially explode next year: Scola can still improve; Francis used to be one of the top point guards; Battier not much worse than Artest defensively; Donte Green is a big man; THE LIST GOES ON AND ON FOR THE ROCKETS.
YOU KNOW THAT ONE GUY WHO SAID MITCH WAS JERKING HIS D*** OFF IS RIGHT. THE LAKERS F.O. IS SITTING THERE IN THEIR PRIVATE ROOMS WACKING OFF WHILE OTHER WESTERN TEAMS CONTINUE TO MAKE MOVE AFTER MOVE. I HOPE THIS ARTEST TRADE GIVES THEM MORE BONERS SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO WACK OFF. NOTHING PERSONAL GUYS, JUST A JOKE.
Wow, a real shot at the NBA Title last season, but failed. And now a real threat to the Lakers Dynasty for years to come. Yes, LA will be dangerous for the next 4-5 years, but so will Houston be. I guess the EARTHQUAKE really knocked the hell out of the Lakers’ management.
This is a blessing in disguise guys…
At least artest was not traded to Boston…
Who’s next? Josh Smith?
F uck Mitch… you should have pulled the trigger on it first… The rockets look damn good now…
Lakers need to counter….time to get the Matrix
its ok, im not that worried:
1) Mitch knows when to and when not to make moves. (ex. Last summer with Kobe, Bynum, & Odom. Pau Gasol)
2) His lack of decisions is the reason why we made it to the Finals. He didn’t have some huge master plan where we make 15 trades and 15 signings, yet we made it to the Finals with only one trade and a bunch of no trades.
I would rather have Prince than Josh Smith. Prince has won championships and Smith has had one impressive playoff series. Prince and Kobe are also learning each others games in the Olympics right now.
Prince is not that athletic. Sure he’s a long a** defender at 6′9″, but he’s known as a “stick figure.” He’s so damn skinny and he will not help cure the Laker’s weakness which was exposed during the Finals- physical toughness and experience. I would prefer Josh Smith’s offense any day. Plus look at what Smith is better at: jumping + dunking, blocking, JUMP-shooting (not SET-shooting), defense, length, etc.
Odom the worst player
Jul 29th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Well all you idiots who want the lakers to keep Odumb you got your wish. Now we will see this was a big mistake. I’m glad Houston got Artest. Our front office is a joke. So are these stupid Odumb fans.
wow so the fo that pulled off the gasol trade is a joke???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????…
My Prediction: Yao Ming & Tracy McGrady are gonna miss 25 games each. Ron Artest will gonna eventually get angry that he has to be 3rd fiddle behind Yao & Tracy.
Come on, did we really want to have a guy that: sold drugs, applied for a job at Circuit City for employee-discounts, went to practice in a bath robe, ran into the stands to beat up a fan that threw a drink at him, asked for a month off from playing basketball to record a rap album, demanded a trade and made himself his own agent.
Now he isn’t gonna change playing under Hitler in Houston.
Let’s see what did we do this offseason…
We let Ronny go (to “free up money for Artest”), we signed Sasha, we signed our draft pick (who will sit on the bench all year). That’s about it folks! Looks like when all is said and done we will end up doing NOTHING to improve our team. Is anyone surprised? We’ve seen this comedy act before. (remember last year’s orgasm about getting Garnett? – that was a farce.) Meanwhile, the Sukdics go out, get Allen, Garnett, Posey, PJ Brown (who else am I missing?) and they win the title. Mitch?, “well we are really happy with our current roster”. What an IDIOT! Every time I hear him interviewed I marvel at how well he is doing after his lobotomy.
Yeah – he acquired Gasol. I think he most likely stumbled into that one. If Bynum hadn’t got hurt numb nuts might have been “happy with our current roster”. The guy is a Clouseau! He’s clueless! The Lakers, the premier sports franchise, deserve better!
Then we read article after article about who is on the verge of “coming to the Lakers”:
Ron Artest, James Posey, Sheldon Williams, Quincy Douby, Sean Marion, Robert Horry, Kwame Brown, Moe Evans, Brent Barry, Josh Smith, Michael Findley, Garbajosa, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Kurt Thomas, Pietrus, Maggette, the parade of names just goes on and on!
All of these stupid articles about how the Lakers are so close to getting Artest – it was all a farce – a joke ! Just a lot of BS, shoveled out to the fans. Meanwhile, Mitch just sits there babbling incoherently there with his thumb up his rear playing with himself.
I can see it now, just before the start of the season he will pick up a few nobodys who will take up space on the bench all year, contributing NOTHING, ala Newble, Mbenga, Coby Karl, Mihm.
Well I hope all of you Lame-ar lovers are happy. His FIFTH year as a Laker and TENTH as a pro “figuring out his game”! We get to enjoy another season of his HORRENDOUS outside shooting, scarecrow defense, ridiculous charge fouls, and inept flinging up the ball to the hoop while falling down with his legs all tangled up. Come on Mitch OPEN YOUR EYES you fool! Plus we get to follow the antics in the life of our team joke Smush Walton. Hopefully V-lady Moronovich will go on another ski trip so this time we can DUMP him, which unfortunately we did not do the last time.
What the he!l is our front office doing?
We have to face it folks we have a MORON for a GM.
Plain and simple.
Fact of the matter is Prince has Rings and will have a gold medal while Josh Smith will have an impressive highlight reel and a slam dunk trophy. Prince has very high basketball IQ and can work in the triangle. Smith, in an impressive way ,can create his own shot one on one, but I’m not sure if he can play that good in a set offense like the triangle. No knock on Smith, he just doesn’t have the experience.
I knew this trade would not happen. Well hopefully the rumors or done for because now that the supposed Josh Smith rumor is left….I won’t hold my breath lol…
we have a bench that will lose to any D-League team… sgnn good vteran mitch get your ass up and to something
damn! screw you houston! Lakers front office COME ON!!! get us a great talented player on our team already!!!
DAMN IT!!!!
The experience will come as he is ONLY 22 years old. You have no proof that he can play the triangle well or that his basketball IQ is better Josh Smith’s. I don’t want a set shooter on my favorite team. I play basketball in real life and I WOULD NOT want a set shooter on my team during a pick-up game. Set-shooters have nothing to offer when someone is right up in their face. They can continue to set-shoot and get blocked, or they try a jump shot which is out of their rhythm. I don’t like Prince’s set-shooting ways. By the way if your argument is IQ, look back at the Eastern Finals where all you see are each Detroit player playing one on one individual offense. Are you telling me that he has a high IQ when all he did was ball hog on fast breaks and shoot the ball by himself with a Celtic defender in his face? Even if he does have higher IQ than Smith, you know he won’t be an upgrade over Odom nor will his IQ be better LO’s. Not in this world.
This is the reason why Mitch doesn’t want to trade. People don’t realize how much versatility the Lakers will lose if they trade LO. Again, don’t tell me Prince has a higher IQ than Odom. You have no evidence of basketball IQ. It is only a matter of one’s measurement/opinion that decides for an athlete’s IQ.
What difference does it make that he has a ring other than experience? An NBA ring doesn’t make a player better. It doesn’t give him 45 inch vertical hops. So what, Brian Scalabrine has a ring! Are you gonna say that he’s good too?
Short Diezel GETS MAJOR PROPS for his comments.
You are absolutely right! Also, for those of you who set we let go of Turiaf because we wanted to save money for Ron Artest needs to get your facts right. (http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/080728vujacicresigned.html) Mitch told the media during Sasha’s signing that it was a combination of two factors. 1. Turiaf felt he could play a bigger role and a better career in GS. 2. Lakers agreed on the fact that Turiaf wouldn’t get a lot of minutes (since most would go to Gasol, Bynum + some to Vlade and Mihm) and it may not be worth it to pay 5 mil a year for someone to play 10 minutes a game. Note, he played less than Sasha last season.
…and by the way Mitch,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NgwqAioUiEc&feature=related!!!!
Made it to the NBA Finals when we weren’t supposed to make playoffs
Made it there without 1 of our best perimeter defenders (Ariza)
Made it there without our young stud starting center (Bynum)
Made it there with Fisher having a torn ligament in his ankle
Made it there with the MVP having a torn ligament in his finger
We are just fine the way we are, some people want an all-star for every position for the Lakers, not going to happen.
Accept the team we got!!!! Enough said
So what about the video? All you unreasonable Laker fans praise a player for just some videos? Try watching the real games for once. That was just one dunk. Just because some dude dunks on another, doesn’t make him a better player. You should stop praising dunkers and start praising shot blockers. You should realize and think outside the bun (not just one-sided) that it is easier to DUNK than to block a dunk. When players dunk they go in with force, power, less risk, and sometimes, with both hands. A dunk is an easy, expected move. An attempt to block a dunk is much harder as you have to have the right timing, swing the blocking hand and the right place at the right moment. It is a reflexive move. One video doesn’t mean much.
Nice dunk, but I say we don’t judge based on one video. Josh Smith has endless lists of blocks and dunks. EMBARRASSING DUNKS AND BLOCKS ON OTHERS. You shouldn’t discredit him just because he got dunked on. Every NBA athlete gets dunked on you know. Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, etc. all got dunked on before. Are you going to say they suck because of that?
It all started with Boston’s Danny and Kevin doing favors, then Us with Memphis( West’s connection) and now, Queens and Rick Adelman linkage. Its NBA old school style. Freaking Queen never would trade with us from the start. Teasing Lakers fan. If I go to Vegas, I will never spend a penny at the Palms ever again.(like they need my penny)lol. Some of you are right, lets focus on Matrix or Prince even J.Smith for Lamar. Answer for those who thinks Lamar will have a breakout year is NO, NO and NO, remember that stupid STAR on his head at the begining of 2007/2008 season? What happened?!
Lets not be too hasty here guys, obviously Artest going to the rockets is going to make a good team even better but we are not so bad ourselves. Lets look at a potential western conf finals match up against them shall we?
PG: Derek fisher/Jordan famar vs Rafer alston (Alston is a good shooter, but so is fish and with anotehr nba offseason under his belt expect jordan farmar to get even better! (advantage lakers)
2 guard KOBE VS T-MAC. Both are amazing players, however Mamba not only is a slightly better scorer than t mac but is definitely the better lockdown defender.
(Advantage lakers)
3 small forward
Lamar odom vs ron artest
Many people say we shoulded lo for ron ron, but i don’t think so. We will have a 6 10 small forward with geat handles, and no histroy of being a nut case! ARTEST IS AN Amazing player and lo will have his hands full on every possesion, but lo outplayed marion in the series vs the suns both years and his length in my opinion will bother artsts jumper.
this matchup to me is a draw.
Pau Gasol vs luis scolar
I love the way scolar plays with intensity and skill but pau is a different class. He will pick him apart with pump fakes and ball fakes down low in the post.
Advantage lakers
Andrew Bynum vs Yao ming
The hardest match up to call, no one really knows what to expect from bynum , we all hope he is the same monster that was dunking on amare and the suns last christmas but knee injuries are tough. Meanwhile yao has proven himself when healthy to be in the same conversation as superman (dwight howard for best big in the league.
Advantage houston
I think Houstons bench will cause problems with battier, brent barry, steve francis but our bench is not bad either. Farmar, sasha, luke, vladdy, ariza are all capable of putting up at least 10 points off the bench and having an impact on the game.
I pick lakers over rockets in 6 to win the west and lakers over celtics in 5 to win the finals!
Thank you! lts about time! now we can get over this crapband work on getting a real payer that can get things done. l like the idea of Josh Smith coming and playing for the Lakers but he would crowd the small forward position and we woukd have to move either Luke, Lamar or both.
Oh and SMUSHWALTON
You are an idiot, Mitch was one of the biggest reasons that we had the year that we had last year. Why trade for artest and potentially ruin the chemistry(which is amazing) in our locker room, when we can have a front line of odom, gasol and bynum all of whom can pass and will make us a force on the inside.
Sorry to get your panties in a bunch. I was just giving my opinion. The part about you playing basketball in REAL life is hilarious. In all my years of playing basketball, I must have been playing in a fantasy world or a video game, and your the only one who has played in REAL life. I wouldn’t pick a guy with a set-shot in a pick up game either if I had the choice of picking a player with a 45 inch vertical but a pick up game in a gym isn’t an nba game. A 45 inch vertical only gets you so far….. just go ask Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets. And no, just having a ring doesn’t make you better,but Prince was part of the starting core in their championship run.
I would rather keep Odom than take Prince if he was offered and see how we start out the season. I was just stating that I would rather have Prince than Smith because so many people on here want Smith just because he has good youtube videos. Smith will be awesome and like you said is only 23 yrs old but just like Kobe I want to win now.
Wow! I’d have to say Houston got a whole lot better. They already have a superb defender in Battier, and now coupled with Artest?! I totally agree with Smush Walton above. Mitch stumbled into the trade with Gasol, and would never had made any trades had Bynum not be injured. I still consider Mitch to be one of the dumbest front office folks in line with Kevin McHale. No team will ever win a title with Odom and Fluke as active players on their team.
I know other teams don’t want Luke or Vlade, but the Lakers can throw them in like something extra. We are already crowded at SF as it is, but trading Odom for Smith and Claxton will keep the number of SF the same so it will be alright.