Artest to LA Lakers; Ariza to Rockets

It ain’t getting any easier for the good guys.

I see them as relative equals for next year. I voted “both teams got worse” just for fun. Given the choice, I’d probably rather have Ariza. I think his D is comparable to Artest’s and he won’t shoot you out of a game.

His propensity to chuck 23 footers isn’t exactly a strength for that type of system, so if he doesn’t modify his style to fit, it could be disasterous.

Phil knows how to keep nutty players focused.

Ariza won’t be nearly as good without Kobe.

Artest is going to make a big positive impact in the playoffs next year… a tough, lockdown defender to throw against LeBron, Hedo, Carmelo, etc.

Yikes. I thought this might be their only ring but they may very well have one or two more in the tank with this pickup.

I know Artest has historically been a headcase (albeit less of one in Houston) and Hedo, by all accounts, is a good locker room guy, but is Hedo really worth +/-$4 million/year more than Ron-Ron? I just don’t see it.

maybe someone shoots those planes down and the Blazers get a whole lot better

who is to say he’s not throwing out Ariza & Artest #‘s in negotiations, and saying, "we’ll throw an offer of 8 mill, 4 years," to Artest if you don’t like the one we are offering you…

Artest is not “signed, sealed, and delivered,” he hasn’t signed anything yet, nor can he till the 8th, and I am not sure Artest wouldn’t jump ship for an extra 6 million…

Not to mention Odom is still on the table as a negotiationg play

if artest is making 6 mil what are we thinking giving hedo 10 mil a year. maybe this brings the price down

I’d say both teams played hard.

What was Trevor Ariza thinking??? Oh wait, I know, $$$$$$$. I think at this moment in time, it makes both teams better. But I have to say that Houston is soooo out of contention for next year. Seriously, Ariza could have signed a short term contract with the Lakers to see how it goes next year. that probably would have been the smart thing….

I’ll respectfully submit that I think many of you folks are wrong and this is an outstanding move for tke L*kers. Artest’s not an idiot and he wants a ring. On a team with a dominant personality like Kobe and a coach who knows how to handle “eccentric” players from the Worm to the Glove, Artest will be fine. People often say, “Well, he managed to keep his nose clean in Houston, so…” Uh, no, he was a exemplary teammate in Houston, despite the fact that their franchise player wasn’t the alpha personality and team leader that Kobe is.

Did you see Artest in timeouts during the playoff run? Engaged, exhorting teammates, coaching the younger guys on their rotation? Animated, calling out stuff he noticed defensively while on the floor, bottling up Brandon Roy when it counted? He was every bit the veteran presence you’d expect from a guy like him at this stage in his career. This is a great signing for the Lakers and exactly what the other contenders in the West did not want to see: a championship Lakers team undeniably getting better in the offseason. Great.

p.s. And Artest is forever OK in my book for calling Roy the best player he’s ever played against. And that’s not just because I’m a Blazer fan, but because I love him for calling his shot and not caring that he’s not on the Kobe/LeBron bandwagon. I picked up huge respect for Garnett some seasons ago because he said the same thing about Rasheed Wallace, even though Rasheed’s never had a reputation as a premier defender. I love it when athletes just call it like they see it. He gets it, man. Like the other PFs are going to be “offended” by KG saying that, or like Kobe’s going to have a chip on his shoulder because Ron gave props to another All-Star. They don’t care. Just say what you feel, guys.

Some people may be overrating Artest, but I think his contributions will be magnified on a team where he is clearly (barring injury) the third or even fourth option on offense. Injuries in Houston constantly changed his role as a scorer. People bag on Artest for taking too many shots in the playoffs; evidently with Yao out and no McGrady, some folks expected offensive powerhouse Luis Scola to shoulder the load. I’m not saying he didn’t show questionable shot selection, I’m saying that on this Lakers team, he really won’t have to, and if he does get shot-happy, you better believe he’ll hear about it quick. And I think he knows that going in, and he gets it. This is bad news for Portland.

This move reeks of Kobe demanding Ron-Ron on his team, and LA luckily didn’t have to overpay. His defense is overrated, but he’s still a physical guy for his position who can punish most players.

However, If LA thinks they are running the triangle with him, then they’re crazy. Run a more traditional fast-paced offense with pick and rolls with Kobe/Gasol and Artest/Gasol, and it’ll work out fine.

Yao is gonna get surgery, could be out for the whole season. McGrady is a free agent next year and won’t be playing until mid-season. Ariza is just a step towards their rebuilding process.

Artest has one year with Lakers to try and get a ring…Phil will not re-up for another season after this one and they will move to a younger coach (i.e. Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis) who Ron has less respect for (lets all remember Ron wanted to play in Houston because of Adelman). Kobe will not be able to convince coach K to coach the Lakers and will join the massive FA class of 2010 and look to play elsewhere…This will not end well in LA…mark my words.

For Houston this gives them the ability to move McGrady next year and his expiring deal. You know Morey loves high efficiency players and he is basically trading McGrady and his terrible contract for a younger Ariza and his more reasonable one. I don’t see how that makes them better…it just means they need Yao back healthy either in 2010 or 2011 more than ever.

I’m guessing it’s about the same, since Ariza would be the replacement for Artest.

Ron Artest is moving to La La Land. I bet they are the only city that will put up with his crap! They’ll think him ‘eccentric’.

“Last on Artest/Lakers: team source denied it all the way. Don’t know why but it twists my gut. Goes to show: none of us are foolproof.”

hmmm…

Toronto’s shot at getting Hedo: apparently his wife loves the city. Any (happily) married man can tell you how much weight that carries.

Artest, will shore up LA’s defense while giving them another person who can vring the ball up the court.

Houston riddled with crippled all-stars who are passed their prime, see Ariza as another building block for the future.

It is destiny that they will always be the hurdle the Blazers must jump. This will make the next 3 years much more difficult.

whether we get him is another matter, but he’ll be on the block for the right price

but Houston got much better long term. Ariza is going to be good throughout the length of the contract no matter what it is.

If Ariza stays on his best behavior like last year (big if, but possible) that’s a very good move for the Lakers to replace Ariza and/or Odom and will make them better in the short term, which is essentially the remainder of Kobe’s prime.

Artest while a chucker at times (so can be Kobe) is the better outside shooter, so they will be able to space the floor at least as good as with Ariza to let Kobe drive and Pau/Bynum operate closer inside. Sometimes when both get hot the Lakers will get unstoppable hot, sometimes they will throw away a game when both throw heaves but that’s probably rare. He is also at least as physical on defense. LA now arguably has the physically strongest SF + SG combo in the league. They also got him on the very cheap compared to some guys they already pay.

Beat LA won’t be easy. We need to do something.

if they win the title again, then Artest can prove his worth to the league, if not, the team can use him as a scapegoat, win/win for lakers and their fans.

Not bad for Houston, they get a little younger, less abnormal shooting for not that much more money, at least for rich GMs it’s not that much, what’s another 2 or 3 ml. over a few years?.

Lots of NBA stuff today. And here is my take.

All these sports pundits (Big Suke, Dave from BE, many others) got some things wrong.

1. Ariza went to Houston for $6.5 Million a year. We could have had him. And as I stated before. Younger, cheaper, more upside, and a better long term fit.

2. Dont fool yourselves into thinking that the Blazers are in a “Championship window” or are even close. As much as I hate to say it, the Lakers are going to rule the Western Conference (if not the league) for the next 3-4 years (about the time Hedo will be effective for). So while Hedo will keep us competetive, it really changes nothing long term.

3. It basically looks like we might as well have saved our money.

that is horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE news…how do they do it? What is Houston thinking (unless it has something to do with Yao’s foot and the fallout thereof)…all is lost…

so we could have renounced blake, signed artest and ariza and still had a couple mil left to pay a backup forward. hmmm

i didnt read the above similar post

Even if it works out for the best for them, I still don’t see another 3-4 years of laker dominance. I think this may convince Lamar to sign elsewhere, they also may not be able to keep Shannon Brown, and Kobe is gonna turn into a jump shooter pretty soon here. Another year or two maybe, yes. But 4 years on top? I think not.