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In a series of e-mails he sent to ESPN.com late Saturday and early Sunday, Artest continued to lament his decision to pass on an opportunity to become a free agent July 1 by announcing that he is now representing himself without an agent and expressing hope that he will soon be traded to "a team out there that can be more committed than Sacramento to me."

That team is believed to be the Los Angeles Lakers. Almost from the minute they were routed by the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals -- which Artest attended in Boston to root for friends Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom -- it has been strongly expected throughout the league that the Lakers would revisit their longstanding trade interest in Artest and eventually acquire the enigmatic forward sometime this summer to address the defense and toughness issues that the Celtics exposed.

But NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Sunday that the Lakers -- fond as they are of Artest and confident as they are that they can get the best out of him through Phil Jackson's coaching and Artest's respect for Bryant -- are reluctant to part with Odom in an Artest swap. That stance, if the Lakers hold firm, would almost certainly prompt Sacramento to look elsewhere for a trade partner.

The most consistent trade chatter involving Artest suggests that the Kings would want Odom in return for Artest and Kings forward Kenny Thomas.

Artest, for his part, is now openly pushing for a move, telling ESPN.com that he's suddenly feeling a chill from Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof in the same desert where, just two summers ago in 2006, Joe Maloof proclaimed him to be the new "face of our franchise."

BiggieSmalls wrote:I want him to come to portland and become our starting small forward, he would be a perfect fit...he is a lock down defender who has the strength to guard the post but has the quickness to guard the perimeter, and he has a good offensive game as well with a good 3 pt shot. he would be the perfect fit on portland and with the locker room we have now i think that we would be able to keep him under control...imagine this lineup in 3 years

Jerryd Bayless
Brandon Roy
Ron Artest
Lamarcus Aldridge
Greg Oden

iamworthy wrote:

BiggieSmalls wrote:I want him to come to portland and become our starting small forward, he would be a perfect fit...he is a lock down defender who has the strength to guard the post but has the quickness to guard the perimeter, and he has a good offensive game as well with a good 3 pt shot. he would be the perfect fit on portland and with the locker room we have now i think that we would be able to keep him under control...imagine this lineup in 3 years

Jerryd Bayless
Brandon Roy
Ron Artest
Lamarcus Aldridge
Greg Oden

What locker room is that? This dude would be a locker room killer on the Blazers. Portland is way to young to take on a head case like Artest. He would be a good fit for teams like the Lakers, Pistons,Spurs or maybe even the Celtics. Other than that, if I was a Blazers fan Im saying keep this guy the hell away from my team.

Ok, that's understandable. But let's assume that Artest has been traded to Portland. Knowing that Portland Blazers has molded itself with high character players, I seriously doubt Artest would "kill" that culture. Artest has said it again "It is all about winning" Portland has a good chance (Well, an excellent chance) to be an Elite team in a few years. Why would he risk that chance to get the title. Knowing that he matured from his Pacers days, he wouldn't do that today. If Artest didn't went "crazy" in Sacramento like people assume. And knowing Sacramento is not a place to win any championships soon, why Artest did NOT blow up already? I tell you, he convince himself to win in ANY team situation, he has said time and time again he will get a championship in Sacramento (Umm, I don't think so) But In Portland, he has an REALISTIC chance to achieve that goal. Artest is one of the few player in the NBA that are difference makers for the team or "push the team over the hump" type of players. But again, we all know that we can't dismiss his history, that's ok. But he has matured with us. It's ok that Portland will not take a risk to obtain Artest, that's understandable, really it is. But if Artest is the missing piece for a team to compete for a championship and the team still don't want Artest, it is pretty dumb IMO. So, again, there is many misconceptions about Artest about ruining team chemistry/play and etc. It has been one of the heated misconceptions towards Kings fans that drives us nuts. (Well, that's another story )

-bob- wrote:Crazy RonRon, lmao. I hope he goes to a good team so he's in the news more often.

Jordan23Forever wrote:LOL @ the Lakers being reluctant to part with Odom for Artest. They get Gasol for peanuts and then they don't want to give up ANY talent in another trade? Odom isn't even enough for Artest -- you're trading a 15/9/4 career underachiever who's "incredibly soft" (Laker fans' words) for a 19/6/4 former DPOY who is a much better shooter and individual offensive player. Yeah, real fair trade <snicker>. And the Lakers don't even want to do that?

I guess they need MORE TALENT to win a championship. It's sad that this is what they would need to win a title:

PG: a 12-14 ppg, good defensive, heady veteran PG
SG: a top 3 player in the NBA at the very worst
SF: a 19/6/4 former DPOY
PF: a 19/9/2 blk/53% former all-star 7' PF
C: a 16.5/11.5/2.5 blk/55+% 7'1" center (conservative estimate based on pre-injury play)

Bench: a 15/9/4 versatile 6'10" SF/PF hybrid and scads of shooters.

I mean, you might as well give them BDiddy at PG while you're at it -- maybe they'll be able to win then.

HarlemHeat37 wrote:

Jordan23Forever wrote:LOL @ the Lakers being reluctant to part with Odom for Artest. They get Gasol for peanuts and then they don't want to give up ANY talent in another trade? Odom isn't even enough for Artest -- you're trading a 15/9/4 career underachiever who's "incredibly soft" (Laker fans' words) for a 19/6/4 former DPOY who is a much better shooter and individual offensive player. Yeah, real fair trade <snicker>. And the Lakers don't even want to do that?

I guess they need MORE TALENT to win a championship. It's sad that this is what they would need to win a title:

PG: a 12-14 ppg, good defensive, heady veteran PG
SG: a top 3 player in the NBA at the very worst
SF: a 19/6/4 former DPOY
PF: a 19/9/2 blk/53% former all-star 7' PF
C: a 16.5/11.5/2.5 blk/55+% 7'1" center (conservative estimate based on pre-injury play)

Bench: a 15/9/4 versatile 6'10" SF/PF hybrid and scads of shooters.

I mean, you might as well give them BDiddy at PG while you're at it -- maybe they'll be able to win then.

you're forgetting the part where Kobe wouldn't be able to lead that team to a title..and then Bgil would find a way to twist it and blame Bynum, Artest, Gasol and Odom..

LeonPowe wrote:I don't know if anyone would be favored over the Lakers if an Odom-Artest swap went down.

And I'm a Celtics fan. :\

But hey, if he does go to the Lakers and has a falling out with Kobe, do you think him and Shaq will team up for a Kobe diss track?