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Do you think this makes things harder for us against the Lakers? I am assuming this means they are not getting Ariza back. I personally think we match up better against the Lakers. Ariza is younger and more athletic creates problems for us in the lane, Artest folded big time in the playoffs against the Lakers and is more of a post up/jump shooter not a slasher.

Yes.

IMO, Artest is a major upgrade over Ariza. Great move by LA.

But now I have to despise my favourite non-Spur for going to the enemy.

My Slim hope is that the agents get greedy and this messes up Odom's returnn to the Lakers.

With the signing of Artest, I question do the Lakers have enough to sign Lamar Odom.

SD2042 wrote:With the signing of Artest, I question do the Lakers have enough to sign Lamar Odom.

Yes. Ariza is projected to take the MLE anyway so Artest signing the MLE does not change Lakers' chances on Odom. Something has to be royally screwed up for Odom to sign elsewhere.

I think LA got a little bit tougher, but not a whole lot. Ariza was perfect for their system and played a huge role for them throughout the playoffs. Artest is much more of a high risk, high reward kind of player, so it remains to be seen whether this is truly an improvement. Personally, I still like our chances against LA, provided that we land a quality big through free agency.

Lakers are weak at PG. Artest doesn't help there.

Things are by no means guaranteed on the Odom front. I could totally see a team over paying for his services. If a team offers him 10 mil annually can the Lakers match that? If that happens gaining Artest and losing Ariza and Odom is a downgrade.

This sucks

PG maybe the Lakers' weakest position on paper, but Derek Fisher was not a weak link.

Yeah I guess. But aside from hitting a few key shots, Fish was pretty rubbish last year. I think most Laker fans (the few smart ones) would agree.