Artest for Odom?

[dockingsched]

lakers are going to have to pay high price to trade a honda accord (odom) for a freshly washed bentley (artest)

[rpa]

Odom for Artest/Thomas is not fair. Where does Artest get this value from? He's crazy, has one year left on his contract, and has already said he regrets staying with the kings. Completely ignoring all of his attitude and behavior issues (which greatly decrease his value in my opinion), why would a team trade for him when they could just wait and offer him money in the offseason? Unless, of course, he agreed to an extention. Add to all that KT's contract, which decreases his value even more.

Well:
a) Because Artest has already said he's not going to take the MLE which eliminates the Lakers from possible suitors
b) Because there are 28 other teams in the league (discounting the Lakers & Kings) and Artest is going to be courted by a number of them. Trading for him not only gives you Artest for the season but gives you a huge leg up on signing him since you'll also get his Bird rights.

Also, you could say a number of the same things about Odom. He only has one year left on his contract and he disappeared in a huge way when his team needed him. Top that off with general inconsistency for his entire career and, well, you have a guy who's not exactly the golden child.

[CDB]

I would love to do this trade. Lamar is a great player and everything and I love his talent but Artest would give us that defensive toughness that we have been missing. We need somebody like Ron to win the chip.

[Reks]

The Kings would be just as stupid as Memphis. Here me out...

The Kings are in the same division as the Lakers and therefore will have to compete with them for years more. Memphis is crap w/ and w/o Gasol in another division. The Kings would be the stupidest franchise in the league.

[DEEP3CL]

Will B-Scott be included in this trade?

You forgot his pal O.C. Brandon too !

[HarlemHeat37]

I still find it funny that any team is mesmerized by Lamar Odom's game..maybe the most overrated player in the NBA..Laker fans don't underrate him, he's just a really inconsistent player..

they need Ron though..Kobe needs all the help he can possibly get, considering the way he disappears in the finals all the time..I'd be interested in seeing who the blame goes to when a supporting cast of Bynum-Gasol-Artest doesn't help him win a title..

[JellosJigglin]

a supporting cast of Bynum, Gasol, Odom is enough to win a title. This would be a bad move for the Lakers. Artest is not needed. They'll be fine once Bynum is ready. I wouldn't trust a Sacramento newspaper anyway. The Los Angeles papers would've had the scoop on this before cow town. No deal.

[Iggyemu]

Unlike the Grizzles...The Kings will explore every trade offer before helping the Lakers secure multiple titles in the next few years. I don't see the Kings doing this simply b/c what good would it do to get cap space knowing that you can't possibly build a team as good as the Lakers would be. I thought big deals don't happen within conferences...then I saw the Pau trade....so I won't write this off. But I think the Kings will explore many more trade offers b/c I am sure another team will offer a better package if the Kings are willing to trade Artest.

First off it doesn't guarantee anything. The Kings gain a PF that may fit into their plans and more importantly style of play. This is a very fair trade IMO. Odom for Artest/Thomas I think is good for both sides.

Don't be naive. Kobe/Gasol/Bynum and Artest would win the next 5 NBA championships. Laker fans are being subdued right now. Say this trade happens...they will fill this board with threads about how many titles they can win with that core. The Lakers lack a perimeter defender to pair with Kobe. Artest gives them that. They have the coach...a great player. A great supporting cast. How does that not equal a championship? Hell they ran through a tough West without Bynum...imagine what could they do with him and Artest..

[Apollo64]

If Lakers had Artest instead of Odom in the Finals, they probably would have won, no easy scoring for Pierce any more.

People tend to dismiss Artest as a problematic character, but i think he has somehow matured in the last couple of years and there is no denying that he can help a team win games primarily through his defense. Also, i think he is ok with having a reduced role offensively and playing for the team first, making him a good fit for a team going after the championship. Odom, on the other hand, didn't perform well under pressure in the finals and was too inconsistent. I like him as a player but maybe he isn't made of the right stuff for a championship team.

I agree that, if this deal goes through, the Lakers become the best team in the League.

[dockingsched]

yup, gasol as the only legit big man would have beat the celtics

[LakerFanMan]

What's all of this crap about winning the next 5 titles? When has Artest ever spent enough time on a team to win that much? His career is full of suspensions and various other problems he brings. Yea on the court he's good, great defender, decent on offense. However, people are acting like he's not also a huge risk. How can you garuntee even one title when the guy has a bigger chance of getting suspended the he does playing in 70 or 75 games?

[Frosty]

I still find it funny that any team is mesmerized by Lamar Odom's game..maybe the most overrated player in the NBA..Laker fans don't underrate him, he's just a really inconsistent player..

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The guy is just not reliable in any form. He's way too passive and a huge underachiever. There isn't any reason a guy with his ability couldn't be a solid #2 player on a title contender and he's been a career 3rd option.

[GreenWithEnvy]

what i find funny is that Laker fans, mainly guys on the radio, my friends and people at the gym i go to, tthink that its actually gonna happen. That the Kings are actually gonna give Ron Artest for Lamar Odom. Without the Lakers taking back Kenny Thomas or SAR.

[dub81]

they are going to have to take Kenny's contract.

But I still do not think it's going to happend..

[eatyourchildren]

I still find it funny that any team is mesmerized by Lamar Odom's game..maybe the most overrated player in the NBA..Laker fans don't underrate him, he's just a really inconsistent player..

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The guy is just not reliable in any form. He's way too passive and a huge underachiever. There isn't any reason a guy with his ability couldn't be a solid #2 player on a title contender and he's been a career 3rd option.

He has a lot of specialized abilities, but he's also lacking on a lot of fundamental abilities. Now, if he focused solely on diving into the lane, rebounding, and occasionally posting up smaller guys, he'd be great. In fact, that's how he played at the end of the season.

But I think it's when he gets too caught up into being "versatile"--the one word everyone LOVES to use about him, that things go wrong. For example, he's versatile because he can play like a guard, right? Well what's the point of playing like a guard if you can't use your off-hand, can't change directions on the fly, and can't do something as simple as a hop-step? Or what's the point of being able to post-up if you can't use your off-hand, don't have enough strength to bully, or have no fadeaway? Or what's the point of being able to get to the rim with ease if the only shot you can do is a finger roll?

In which case, his "versatility" really comes down to a very unique and specialized skillset of which he CANNOT test the boundaries of: powering a fast break going straight and dribbling left the entire way, rebounding, and slashing for catch and dunks.

[sacstar16]

Any deal centered around Odom and Artest just isn't going to work out for the Kings. There is no reason why we would need or want Odom. He doesn't fit in if we plan on rebuilding at all. He'll just take away time from our young guys. He's an expiring - so what- so is Artest. Even if we add Kenny Thomas, I still wouldn't take it. We are planning to make a free agent splash in the summer of 2010, not 2009. Kenny Thomas doesn't interfere at all with that plan, when we will have the big contracts of Kenny, Brad, and SAR expiring. Finally, for the Kings to trade Artest to the Lakers, the Lakers would seriously have to overpay. We don't want to basically hand over the championship to them, which giving them Artest would practically do. If the Lakers want Artest, you have to overpay as in Gasol or Bynum. Obviously the Lakers aren't willing to give up this much, so any Artest to Lakers deal will not work, especially if you want that deal centered around Odom/Artest.

[Frosty]

I still find it funny that any team is mesmerized by Lamar Odom's game..maybe the most overrated player in the NBA..Laker fans don't underrate him, he's just a really inconsistent player..

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The guy is just not reliable in any form. He's way too passive and a huge underachiever. There isn't any reason a guy with his ability couldn't be a solid #2 player on a title contender and he's been a career 3rd option.

He has a lot of specialized abilities, but he's also lacking on a lot of fundamental abilities. Now, if he focused solely on diving into the lane, rebounding, and occasionally posting up smaller guys, he'd be great. In fact, that's how he played at the end of the season.

But I think it's when he gets too caught up into being "versatile"--the one word everyone LOVES to use about him, that things go wrong. For example, he's versatile because he can play like a guard, right? Well what's the point of playing like a guard if you can't use your off-hand, can't change directions on the fly, and can't do something as simple as a hop-step? Or what's the point of being able to post-up if you can't use your off-hand, don't have enough strength to bully, or have no fadeaway? Or what's the point of being able to get to the rim with ease if the only shot you can do is a finger roll?

In which case, his "versatility" really comes down to a very unique and specialized skillset of which he CANNOT test the boundaries of: powering a fast break going straight and dribbling left the entire way, rebounding, and slashing for catch and dunks.

Agrred. He has never added to his game. When he came into the league he had a ton of potential but didn't expand on it. If you aren't going to expand your game you better develop into a strong role player which he just hasn't established yet. He should take Horry as an example. Horry looked like a longer Pippen when he was in Houston. The sky was the limit. He never achieved what I thought he could have done but he found a niche and excelled at it.

[microfib4thewin]

I'm one of the few Laker fans who oppose this possible trade. People are expecting Artest to help the Lakers the same way Gasol would. There's two problems with that thought. There's no question how strong Artest's personality is, and for all the hype about how much he respects Kobe, there's a good chance they will butt heads once they become teammates. Gasol may be soft for a center, but his willingness to defer is why the Lakers were even going to the finals. Artest will definitely put the Lakers up there as one of the top defensive teams, but offensively he is known to stall ball movement, and that is the last thing we need in the triangle offense. I've always thought that Phil run too many iso plays for Kobe, if by any chance he does tone it down it's going to be offset by having Artest.

I think people are overvaluing talent without any concerns as to how the players will mesh together. Even though Artest isn't doing anything outrageous nowadays his plays on the court and how he behaves during interviews is not exactly beneifical for team chemistry. Moreover, Artest wants a fat contract extension, and he isn't going to get that by being the 3rd or 4th option.

[BlazersRizing]

the Queens aren't going to donate Artest to the Lakers. even for "The Goods" Lamar Odom.

Jerry West doesnt have hookups with the Kings like he did with the Grizzlies so i'm sorry L.A. no more donations. =)

p.s. how much help does Kobe need? damn. sad

[eatyourchildren]

the Queens aren't going to donate Artest to the Lakers. even for "The Goods" Lamar Odom.

Jerry West doesnt have hookups with the Kings like he did with the Grizzlies so i'm sorry L.A. no more donations. =)

p.s. how much help does Kobe need? damn. sad

There's nothing quite like guaranteeing yourself a victory. Ask all those championship teams that were stacked with multiple hall of famers