Now from the "Duh" category, Ron Artest confirms..

[KingInExile]

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If I was a Kings fan I'd be enraged if Petrie didn't trade Artest for the best offer that comes his way. If he has any creativity he can acquire a 4 without too much difficulty for Crittenton.

Now as for the actual trade.

Hell I don't care, I'd take Rahim's deal to make it happen as long as Artest signs the extension.

If Kwame and Crittenton for Artest is the best offer on the table, I would be enraged if Petrie didn't just let Artest walk for nothing. That offer is a slap in the face.

[SacTown Kings]

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I didn't say anything about you owing us a damn thing. It doesn't send us into luxury tax next season if we sign him and besides, improve your team stop worrying about the Lakers. We're one team out of 29 the Kings must improve against. Improve yourselves and you already have put down the Lakers. Last I checked we don't even lead the division and the rivalry is over.

2 first round picks, including one who's currently doing well in his limited
playing time is great for nothing.

You're the one who's getting something for nothing, not the Lakers. Taking Kenny Thomas isn't a given in anything. Nobody wants to take on Kenny Thomas and rumor has even come about that doesn't include a hefty contract coming back to Sacramento that would include Thomas. That doesn't mean I wouldn't consider it but making a case to hurt Jerry Buss' pocket books is not exactly soemthing that should excite King fans. He has the money, he just prefers not to have to spend it...

Your payroll next season will be around 61.3 million, that's not counting Turiaf. If Artest is a free agent he will be looking for something around 10 million a year, how does that NOT put you in the luxury tax? Never did I say it was exciting to hurt our opponent's pocket books, but it is a positive. The more teams that are are above the cap and especially the lux tax, the better our chances are at landing a good free in 2009. That is the year Petrie plans to make his big move(s).

Plan and simple, if the Kings are going to give someone in our division a championship caliber team, then they at the very least have to suffer the contract of Kenny Thomas. Otherwise Kings will just let Ron walk as they should do, unless NY sweetens their offer. Petrie's goal is to get us in good position to sign a big free agent in 2009, Kenny Thomas is the main contract that needs to go in order for us to be in a good position. Artest is our best trade bait. It's not that hard to figure out jajwanda, Thomas is handcuffed to Artest. You can type your fantasies about Artest all you want, but unless you are willing to crawl into bed with Thomas you ain't getting no Ron Ron. Otherwise don't you think a deal would have been done, you do know Artest has been available for a year now?

[Jajwanda]

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Your payroll next season will be around 61.3 million, that's not counting Turiaf. If Artest is a free agent he will be looking for something around 10 million a year, how does that NOT put you in the luxury tax? Never did I say it was exciting to hurt our opponent's pocket books, but it is a positive. The more teams that are are above the cap and especially the lux tax, the better our chances are at landing a good free in 2009. That is the year Petrie plans to make his big move(s).

Plan and simple, if the Kings are going to give someone in our division a championship caliber team, then they at the very least have to suffer the contract of Kenny Thomas. Otherwise Kings will just let Ron walk as they should do, unless NY sweetens their offer. Petrie's goal is to get us in good position to sign a big free agent in 2009, Kenny Thomas is the main contract that needs to go in order for us to be in a good position. Artest is our best trade bait. It's not that hard to figure out jajwanda, Thomas is handcuffed to Artest. You can type your fantasies about Artest all you want, but unless you are willing to crawl into bed with Thomas you ain't getting no Ron Ron. Otherwise don't you think a deal would have been done, you do know Artest has been available for a year now?

What gain do you possibly get from keeping Artest and letting that contract expire though?

I'm willing to take on Thomas' contract. I frankly don't care really...

I just wonder what the logic of something versus nothing and going with the latter is.

[SacKingZZZ]

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If Kwame and Crittenton for Artest is the best offer on the table, I would be enraged if Petrie didn't just let Artest walk for nothing. That offer is a slap in the face.

Just for principles sake I wouldn't doubt for a second that Petrie would do just that..

[Jajwanda]

I didn't realize GMs were supposed to be men of great principle. I though they were supposed to improve their teams

Anyway I upped the offer I was giving, more of a question to the logic of "it's better to let him walk".

[KingInExile]

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What gain do you possibly get from keeping Artest and letting that contract expire though?

I'm willing to take on Thomas' contract. I frankly don't care really...

I just wonder what the logic of something versus nothing and going with the latter is.

A deal involving Kwame/Crittenton for Artest/Thomas works for me and I don't think many Kings fans would be too outraged by it (it accomplishes one big goal, which is to move Thomas). Unfortunately that specific deal won't work under the trade rules. To make the salaries work out, the Lakers will have to add in about $2M more in salary as filler. I would assume Mihm would be the only guy that fits that salary that the Lakers would be willing to give up. I would still be ok with that deal, even though I am not all that crazy about Mihm.

[SacKingZZZ]

Well then you haven't paid much attention to the good GM's Jajwanda.... Petrie has a name as being one of them. It's about setting a standard for the way you do business.

Do you really think GM's are out there to screw other GM's? I wouldn't think so. Why? Because the NBA is a very small town, it may come back to bite you in the backside. That's why most teams try to help out the other one just as much as themselves to at least the point that both teams think it's as fair as possible. If the Kings settle for that kind of package and they really want more, what does that say to other teams?

[Jajwanda]

Well then you haven't paid much attention to the good GM's Jajwanda.... Petrie has a name as being one of them. It's about setting a standard for the way you do business.

Do you really think GM's are out there to screw other GM's? I wouldn't think so. Why? Because the NBA is a very small town, it may come back to bite you in the backside. That's why most teams try to help out the other one just as much as themselves to at least the point that both teams think it's as fair as possible. If the Kings settle for that kind of package and they really want more, what does that say to other teams?

I think it's pretty cut-throat my friend. I'm not so sure there's that kind of I'm going to screw over this GM idea mentality if you try to take full advantage of a situation.

By the way when did Petrie start?

[BMiller52]

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I think it's pretty cut-throat my friend. I'm not so sure there's that kind of I'm going to screw over this GM idea mentality if you try to take full advantage of a situation.

By the way when did Petrie start?

To be honest I rather do the Nene deal with Denver if we can get a 1st round pick just because we've needed a PF for so long.

[Jajwanda]

I could understand if you guys decided to do that. It's been proactive...

[deNIEd]

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So your saying if we traded Artest for Kwame/2nd rounder, you would be okay with it?? I would rather let Artest WALK than go to the Lakers UNLESS we get something back in the deal that we can USE.

Yes i would, and it appears trading Arrtest for that Kwame+Critt would have been a lot better than having the Lakers trade for Gasol.

If our fear is that Artest will end up with the Lakers, who says he wouldn't sign with them this summer if we let him walk?

Assuming we let him walk, Artest can either a) play for a town he wants or b) play for a team to win.
Most likely the following teams (assuming the team actually wants Artest)
NYK, Lakers, Miami, Denever, Dallas
Currently, if he wants to win, Lakers are his second best bet

PG
SG Kobe
SF Artest/Walton
PF Gasol/Odom
C Bynum/Turiaf

That scares the **** out of me

[Smills91]

The thing about Ron is that wherever we trade him to, that's most likely where he'll be for the next 5-6 years. That team will be able to re-sign him and so the more I think about it the more I feel like no way in hell to we trade him to the Lakers or pretty much any other WC team.

I think we need to ship him eastward.

[Sac Fan in Clipper town]

It's hard to trade the only really good defender, but...