So Bucher kind of killed our hopes for Artest

[MELO4MVP]

During the game, Bucher was talking about how the West are making huge trades. He then went on and said "the Nuggets are close to getting Ron Artest for Najera and Klieza, but the Nuggets said they're not giving up Klieza."

GIVE UP JR!

[big123]

After tonight, maybe both teams will change their minds.

[L-Burna89]

Bucher also said we were trying to trade for Nene/Kleiza/JR/Eddie for Bibby/Artest......which was not even remotely true. I'm not very confident in his sources at the moment.

[MELO4MVP]

I don't recall Bucher saying that, and I don't see why Denver wouldn't try that. Gets us a pg/shooter and our defender

[MELO4MVP]

Bucher also called the A.I. trade and the Shaq trade.

[corona]

I don't recall Bucher saying that

espn radio yesterday.

During the game, Bucher was talking about how the West are making huge trades. He then went on and said "the Nuggets are close to getting Ron Artest for Najera and Klieza, but the Nuggets said they're not giving up Klieza."

GIVE UP JR!

the nuggets tried to get iverson for dre/random pieces for years. just because it was squashed once doesn't mean it'll never happen.

being that artest is opting out at seasons ends...kings will have to make a decision before the deadline to get something for him, or nothing. might as well make them sweat and get a better deal than overpay for a deal they should make regardless of who's thrown in from any team.

i like the idea of artest, this past summer i was in favor of trading camby for him (under the assumption nene wouldn't come down with another freak injury). however i'm not too psyched about giving up LK for a end-season rental of ron. he's young, works hard, gets better, has a little higher ceiling...and i think a) he'd flourish in sacramento and b) we could get better value (artests is low....and having a backup for melo as good as lk isn't the best idea when there's other holes to fill).

[MELO4MVP]

Yea. I'd hate to give up LK. Dude is a beast.

[UNLVNugsFan]

The only trade I am willing to do for Artest would involve Najera, JR, or if they for some reason wanted them, Hunter and Atkins.

LK is too young, too much of a spark off the bench to give up for a potential half a season rental.

[big123]

As much as I don't want to see Kleiza go, especially for a 3 month rental for Ron, none of us, nor the FO should overlook that the Nuggets are completely stuck with AI, Kenyon and Camby.

They pretty much threw the option out the window when they aquired AI last year. You can't renig now and say were going to keep our younger players and not do everything possible to win now, unless the FO thinks that the Nuggs are there now.

[RRFB]

So you're pretty much saying we should trade away any of the young pieces we have left just to make a push in the next year?

I'd rather not turn into the Heat of a few years ago, win one title, and then end up back in the lottery the next season.

[big123]

So you're pretty much saying we should trade away any of the young pieces we have left just to make a push in the next year?

I'd rather not turn into the Heat of a few years ago, win one title, and then end up back in the lottery the next season.

I'm not saying that at all. I'm not singling out getting Artest, All I'm saying is whatever the Nuggets are trying to get accomplished, AI was a big part of it by getting him last year. If they don't think it's enough at this point, then they gotta do something and AI, Camby and Kenyon aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so they have no choice at this point, unless they think the team is good enough now or they just settle for what they got and regroup a little easier in 2-3 years.

I really don't think it makes a difference at this point to tell you the truth.

[Teens On Acid]

you guys are nuts saying you'd rather have Kleiza over Artest.
if Artest was performing well on a winning team, why would he leave?

if by some chance we made the trade, and Artest then left at the end of the season, wouldn't we then have some form of cap space to spend in free agency?

[TEAIM]

you guys are nuts saying you'd rather have Kleiza over Artest.
if Artest was performing well on a winning team, why would he leave?

if by some chance we made the trade, and Artest then left at the end of the season, wouldn't we then have some form of cap space to spend in free agency?

I want Artest too, but I'd rather throw in next years 1st round pick instead of LK. Give 'em Eddie, JR and a 1st. Thats a good deal for the Kings. They really don't need Artest cause they wanna open up more playing time for Garcia and Salmons.

To answer your last question, we won't have any space for free agents cause we're still over the cap. We'd just have the MLE. That's it.

[Jack Bang CO]

Okay, I'm missing something.

Where would Artest play, SG? Is he nearly quick enough? Or SF, with Melo moving to PF?

And my vote for moving LK for Ron "I'm not sure if I want to be a rap star or an NBA head case" Artest would be "no thanks".

[pickaxe]

Okay, I'm missing something.

Where would Artest play, SG? Is he nearly quick enough? Or SF, with Melo moving to PF?

And my vote for moving LK for Ron "I'm not sure if I want to be a rap star or an NBA head case" Artest would be "no thanks".

Think of him as a not so offensively challenged 'Khouba, with slightly better D. Ok, much better D.

And yeah, why not throw him in there. Melo's pretty solid at PF, and that just increases the size of our front line. The back court is the only remaining question if Artest plays SF....who plays where we might otherwise insert Kleiza?

Karl might throw out Carter, AI, Artest, Melo, Camby but AI, JR, Artest, Melo, Camby would be pretty effective.

AI, Artest, Melo, Kenyon, Camby .... don't know how well Artest can keep up with the faster SGs, but AI certainly can with a big body like Artest side by side.

You have to give up value to get value, so.....if we gave up Najera and then Kleiza some sort of guarantee from Artest to play for at least 1-2 more years at a reasonable salary might cure that. Don't know if that's standard fare in contracts, but it's a legitimate concern by the Nuggets FO.

[noone]

You have to give up value to get value, so.....if we gave up Najera and then Kleiza some sort of guarantee from Artest to play for at least 1-2 more years at a reasonable salary might cure that. Don't know if that's standard fare in contracts, but it's a legitimate concern by the Nuggets FO.

If you were to get Artest, Denver would hold all the cards in signing him to a decent contract over the summer. The only teams that could give him anything close to what he'd want are Philly, Memphis, and Miami if Marion opts out and doesn't reup with them. Philly and Memphis won't go anywhere near Artest and I'm sure Miami would rather extend Marion than sign Artest over him (though I wouldn't be surprised to see them gamble for him). The only thing any other team could offer is the MLE. I'd say you have an 80% chance of resigning him. 20% because he's a headcase and might just pull a Sprewell and retire.

[Smills91]

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/page ... geId=3.2.1

Here's a little perspective from Ron's Agent...Kings wouldn't even come close. accepting a Najera/Kleiza package for ron. Denver doesn't have the pieces to land Artest.

[corona]

link

Here's a little perspective from Ron's Agent...Kings wouldn't even come close. accepting a Najera/Kleiza package for ron. Denver doesn't have the pieces to land Artest.

the only person who overrates ron's trade value more than smills91 is artest's agent.

14 million dollar player?
yea right.
maybe without the crazy, unpredictability, reputation, ad nauseam.

[pickaxe]

link

Here's a little perspective from Ron's Agent...Kings wouldn't even come close. accepting a Najera/Kleiza package for ron. Denver doesn't have the pieces to land Artest.

Well, first of all there are trade restrictions. Sacramento is not going to get 14 mil worth of players for a 7 mil contract. Simple math.

Now, the possibility of Artest helping the Nuggets to a championship (which, can he really attest, haha, to being able to do that?) and garner a contract next couple years closer to his actual worth?

And that's his agent speaking. Of course he's going to try to get as much for Artest as he can.

The best another team can do in a trade is offer picks on top of salaried players.

The only 'A' player we have that would match that is K-Mart. But then, Sac is going to have to give up 7 mil or so in complimentary players.

[noone]

edited for link length

Here's a little perspective from Ron's Agent...Kings wouldn't even come close. accepting a Najera/Kleiza package for ron. Denver doesn't have the pieces to land Artest.

Too bad Ron's agent doesn't have as much say in a trade as he'd like to think he has. Hell, he has ZERO say in where Artest goes or how much the Kings get back. If the Kings and Denver both like a trade, they are going to go through with it whether Artest and his agent like it or not.

This is all just talk coming from his agent looking forward to the summer. He wants to make it seem Artest has all this value so he can get more money in the offseason. And the more (talent) Denver gives up, the more his agent can use that as leverage to get him a bigger contract.