Stephen A. Smith- Artest rumor

[Mahorn at the 4]

What is this rumor I am hearing about the 6ers being the front-runners for Artest?

Allegedly Stephen A Smith said last night that we are the front runners for Artest/+ by offering Carney, Green, Utah's pick. To make it work Ollie's deal would likely have to go to Sac.

I see this making us a better team down the stretch as we make a run. Also, Artest will opt out this summer and we could liekly do a sweet sign and trade with a team that really wants him.

Do we risk him behaving himself for a few months? If we add his presence to this team we can make a playoff run and be a tough out for Boston or Detroit. Plus, we get cap room when he opts out.

Can anyone confirm or give more info on this?

[cx09]

i would be very surprised if this happened, but i feel like anything is possible this season.

i don't like artest on this team at all. while he would complement iguodala nicely in shoring up our perimeter defense, i don't think his mentality is right for our guys. also he's not a scorer and he's not a dominant post presence, so he doesn't solve either of our painful offensive shortcomings....

lol can you imagine any two different players, in terms of attitude, than artest and thad young right now......

[SendEm]

If Stephanski pulls this off he is the man. It's a win win win move no matter what happens. But I do see a great potential for the Sixers to potentially have a worse record in the future if Artest signs elsewhere after he opts out.

I like Sactown for Carney. That's a NO pressure city and players develop well out there. Carney could actually become a factor in the league after a couple of seasons in Sactown just like Salmons.

Getting rid of Green's contract is a great move.

[Cru Thik]

Is it a sure thing he would opt out? I would love to get Artest we might be able to get high enough so we wouldn't have to play Detroit or Boston in the first round.

[OhhBF]

I'd do backflips if they added Artest for that package.

[Cookin Baskets]

Remember 76ers are rebuilding, for their future. Ron Artest is a good player but we have Thadeus Young who can end being better than Artest. Don't Laugh, hes been playing pretty well as of late and I think hes got the goods and maturity(more than artest) to be a great nba player,btw hes only a rookie. Also what makes you think Artest wants to be a 76er, even on title contending teams when he was with Indiana he always has to find something wrong with the situation hes in. Hes attitude wouldn't be right for young developing 76er players, and at the end of the day we would be giving up young 76er talent for basically a 1 yr. rental for Artest, No Thankx..although if we were to do that it would give the sixers more cap space if Artest doesn't come back which would defintley happen if this deal happend. I can see Mo Cheeks and Artest clashing heads, and giving 76er management a big headache.

[ankle420breaker]

link?

[cx09]

hm, on second thought i'm not sure it would be so bad.....

i'm just wary about messing up the team chemistry, because i feel like the sixers' strength right now is in that rather than individual talent. artest could be fine here, or he could blow up. you never really know.

considering what we'd be giving up though, and the possibility of him opting out, i guess it wouldn't be a terrible move.

[Louis Williams]

I think Artest would be a fabulous pickup.

I was going to suggest going after him in the offseason when he opts out. He won't command the max, and he could be the go to player we are looking for.

With he and Iggy defending the wings and Dalembert defending the basket, we could be very tough defensively.

[Sixersftw]

thats a pretty nasty defense. it looks like a win-win. if it works, it works. if it doesn't we get out from under wg's contract

[Stanford]

That's a great trade for us. I think we're doomed (:D) to make the playoffs this year. Why not get rid of Greens contract and try to make a further push? It's not like he wrapped up in a 6 year deal.

[ITK9]

wow..i'm shocked but i think it deserve the risck

what can we win?a great player in his prime
what can we loose?if he opts-out and we don't resign him, it would be like trading korver,carney and korver for cap space. korver>expiring, carney>=expiring, willie green<<<<expiring so it won't be a huge lost

[Sixerscan]

Uh wow. If we did that that would exciting.

It is SAS though.

[cx09]

can we get some confirmation on this...

it seems pretty far-fetched when you think about it from sacramento's standpoint.. WG's contract is basically just throwing $4m a year down the drain, carney's potential is dubious, and the utah pick seems like it would only be minor compensation. unless they're particularly eager to just "get rid" of artest, why would they ever do this deal...

[CPops57]

Allegedly Stephen A Smith said last night that we are the front runners for Artest/+ by offering Carney, Green, Utah's pick. To make it work Ollie's deal would likely have to go to Sac.

If that's the price, I'd be very willing to take a shot.

If he works out, you get an all-star caliber player who still is under 30 for for less than market value. If it doesn't work out, you at least get out from under Carney/Green's additional few million and have more cap room for next year.

[dbodner]

Is it a sure thing he would opt out? I would love to get Artest we might be able to get high enough so we wouldn't have to play Detroit or Boston in the first round.

Even if he doesn't, it's not much risk. The only expiring of that group is Ollie, and it would just add more $ to our cap room the following offseason, when Andre Miller comes back.
Scenarios:
- Artest meshes in well, and Iguodala/Artest/Thad become a great defensive wing trio. We sign artest to a long term deal.
- Artest doesn't opt out, we still retain most of our cap room this offseason (his contract doesn't escalate at all next year), and we gain more cap room in 2009 with both Miller and Artest coming off the cap (whereas we would have had Carney + Green on the cap next year)
- Artest opts out, we can do a sign and trade and get back assets probably more valuable than Green and Carney (AND get their money off the books)


I see it as a win-win-win scenario for us.

[RIPskaterdude]

This trade makes no sense for the Kings. Artest is (basically) expiring and I know the Kings are worried about the tax. We would be taking back Green (3 years), Carney (2 years) and Ollie (expiring) + a late 1st for Artest? They aren't bad players, but the Kings are OVERLOADED with wing players (Martin, Salmons, Garcia, Douby, Jones). What kind of playing time would Green/Carney get?

Unless they work it out to send KT back to Philadelphia....

[phiphan]

Do it Ed.

[IglooKing2]

Barring an injury, Artest will most likely opt out at the end of the season. So this would probably give the Sixers about $5m more in cap space in the offseason by getting rid of Green and Carney, at the cost of losing those two guys and Utah's 1st. And, for better or worse, give them a change to grab the 6 seed and maybe get to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

If Artest doesn't opt out, they get his services for another year, after which they'll definitely be able to give someone a max deal.

I'd probably do it.

[SendEm]

Unless they work it out to send KT back to Philadelphia....