I heard a rumor this morning on 95.5 on my way to work that the L*kers had offered the Kings Lamar Odom for Ron Artest.  Frankly, this would be disastrous if any trade along these lines were to transpire.  As shown last year, Ron Artest is our achilles heel.  He defends Roy better than anyone else I've seen, and on offense he's simply too tough and strong for our young team.  Even with Oden patrolling the paint I feel that he would continue to dominate us.  This is acceptable as long as he's doing it for a lottery team like the Kings, but if he were to become a L*ker the matchup swings decidedly in their favor (I believe it it strongly in ours at the moment).  As someone who would be content with a 4-win season as long as those four came against the L*kers, the prospect of them acquiring Artest sickens me.  What would you think if these rumors proved to be true?  How do we deal with a lineup of Fisher/Kobe/Artest/Gasol/Bynum?

Please note that this post is still largely rumor and speculation.  Artest has reported that he has no intentions of leaving the Kings, and the L*kers have already tried to acquire him and failed.  Will upping the ante in this manner (Odom) be successful, or will it be another failed attempt?  Even if they don't get him this season, what about the next year when he's a free agent?