1. I think he will under Phil...(I'm not a big fan of PJ, but thats were he is best)
2. I think he will too...basically he did last year behind T-Mac and Yao, so why he shouldnt now with the Champion, Pau and this Kobe guy everyone is talking bout
...BUT, even if that is true: Ariza would have been better for the Lakers...Artest is a slight downgrade with the positive, that LA should be more able to defend Melo or Lebron, but will have bigger problems against the Spurs
ok, for the Lakers and good for the Spurs
That was what I thought about: which teams are able to pay Odom more than the MLE?
Portland
Toronto
OKC
Memphis?
I just don't see that Odom joins one of those teams. So the most likely scenario is that je stays with the Lakes for like 7-10 mio a year...
could see Toronto making a run at him, if they fail with Hedo
You're correct as far as I know...those are the only remaining teams with salary cap space above the MLE.
Not a good fit
Toronto - Bosh+Odom is a bad mix because both are a little too skinny for their position.
OKC Thundah - Already have a skinny frontcourt with Jeff Green & Kevin Durant. Doesn't make sense for them to add yet another skinny forward to their team.
OK Fit
Portland - Already has LaMarcus Aldridge playing heavy minutes. Along with redundancy in Oden/Pryzbilla...would they want to pay $10 million plus for a backup?
Great Fit
Memphis could put up the money and could really use Lamar to go with the tank-like Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo.
C - Marc Gasol/Hasheem Thabeet
PF - Lamar Odom
SF - Rudy Gay
SG - OJ Mayo
PG - Mike Conley
That would be a pretty bad-ass lineup.
You do realize the Grizzles just traded for Zach Randolph right. It would make no sense for them to go after Lamar, plus them and OKC aren't spending much this off season apparently.
Memphis just traded for Z-Bo so I assume they want to play him. So they're out for Odom.
here is my opinion:
TOR: good fit
...they need to do averything they can to have a good season and therefor making Bosh feel, that he is at the right place...with a european run and gun style I could even see a Odom+Marion linup + Bosh at center working
MEM: ok fit
...basketballwise it would put a realy nice team on the court and if Thabeet does good, I even could see them contending for the playoffs...even though I'm not a great fan of Conley and Mayo may be to young to help them get there...on the other side thats a really young team and I dont think they are at the point where getting that one experienced player makes sense
OKC: ok fit
...I'd like to see them play together and Odoms playmaking could be nice to complement a "not so playmaking"-PG in westbrook...but just as with MEM I dont think, they are done getting young players
POR: not a good fit
...just dond see where he gets his playing time
We're fvcked now.
It comes down to Toronto and Portland and I honestly don't see why either of them would want Lamar. There really isn't any need, Bosh is there and LMA is in Portland. Even if they gave him an offer it probably wouldn't be big enough for Lamar to choose them over the Lakers who will probably give LO something around 8 a year.
Last edited by KSeal; 07-03-2009 at 06:31 AM.
No I didn't know
No I didn't know
Yes the Grizzles are that ing re ed.
well we def need more rebounding now that Ron Ron is gonna be chucking up those 25 footers.
Didn't you guys draft Blair, he's a stud from what Spur fans have said.
LEts JUst CANcel the SEAson!!!!!!111
ing re
I hope this motivates the spurs to aggressively pursue a few more pieces. Maybe a backup sf, and a couple of bigs via trade or FA.
Bill Plaschke just told it like it is. Lakers are no better with artest than with Ariza. WOW
insecure
The Artest Trade
I’m ambivalent.
On the on hand, Artest is a better player than Trevor Ariza. The Lakers are an embarrassment of riches, and they just traded a ruby for a diamond. But I’m with those who think Artest is a bad fit in Los Angeles. And more importantly, the Spurs could benefit from Trevor Ariza’s departure from L.A.
Defensively, the Lakers (and Magic) give the Spurs fits because of their length. The collective length of Ariza-Odom-Gasol-Bynum was especially difficult for two Spurs, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. In large part, this free agent period is about getting Tim Duncan the help he needs against teams like L.A. But until last night, the Spurs could do little to nothing to counter Trevor Ariza’s length against Tony Parker. Henry Abbott recently asked, “Who Can Guard Tony Parker?” TrueHoop Network colleague and Lakers blogger Kurt Henlin responded with an answer most Spurs fans would second:
The Lakers have had their best success not with small and quick but with bigger and longer. Look at it this way, under today’s rules Tony Parker could not defend Tony Parker, Jameer Nelson could not stop Jameer Nelson. Defending these guards with bigger, longer players allows some room for mistakes with good recovery. They Lakers had some of their best success this season when Trevor Ariza was switched to cover a point guard. Just something to think about.
I also wonder whether the signing of Artest won’t marginalize Lamar Odom to some extent. If that’s the case, the Spurs will only benefit.
Having said all that, this was the right move for Los Angeles. It’s a big gamble, but when your safety net consists of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Phil Jackson, you can deal with a potential misfire.
There is a message in this trade, and one worth noting. The Lakers did not make this move with the Spurs in view. No, they were thinking about Cleveland. Ron Artest is one of the few defenders in the league that can do a fair job against LeBron James. This was a response, however odd it might seem, to the Shaquille O’Neal trade.
Remember when Shaq was traded to Phoenix and Gasol to Los Angeles. Kevin Garnett opined that the moves were just two teams trying to get over the San Antonio hump. Phoenix had made one drastic move because they knew the threat to their championship hopes resided in Alamo City. Both teams identified San Antonio as their biggest obstacle, and adjusted accordingly. Well, the Lakers are sitting atop their lofty championship perch and they see a threat on the horizon. That threat is Cleveland.
The Spurs still have work to do this offseason.
http://www.48minutesof .com/2009/...ade/#more-3493
The "spurs fans" saying this season is over already make me ing sick. Jump off the bandwagon and never get back on. Artest's ass doesn't mean to spursfans. Who's he gonna guard when we have 4 perimeter scorers on the floor at all time?
Lakers look to Artest to fill dramatic role
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
Kobe Bryant(notes) always admired that Ron Artest(notes) never acted like he wanted an autograph when duty demanded that he defend him. He loved that Artest was combustible and crazy and always left people wondering: Is this the moment when Ron-Ron loses his mind again, when all breaks loose?
Deep down, Bryant wanted Artest on his side. Artest gives a thirtysomething Kobe what Dennis Rodman gave a thirtysomething Michael Jordan: A belligerent, tough guy bearing the burden of protecting the superstar’s back.
And as far back as the Western Conference playoffs, the Lakers believed Artest wanted to trade Houston for Hollywood, that the Rockets’ decaying cornerstone of Yao Ming(notes) and Tracy McGrady(notes) turned that team into a temporary rehab assignment.
“If they couldn’t get Trevor [Ariza] cheap,” said a source with knowledge of the Lakers’ free-agent plans, “they had Ron in their back pocket.”
Change is good for a defending champion. When the rest of the NBA’s elite – Cleveland, Orlando and Boston are getting better – the champion can’t just stand pat. As an executive and a player chasing repeat les, Detroit’s Joe Dumars says, “I like to make one significant change in that second year.”
This gives the Lakers something to incorporate, to work through, across a long training camp and regular season. This way, they aren’t tempted to just coast until the playoffs. This changes the dynamic for everyone, and give Artest this: Around him, there’s never complacency.
Bryant never campaigned for Artest over Ariza, his loyalty with the hot-shooting kid who helped him win a championship without Shaquille O’Neal(notes). In the long run, the Lakers were wiser to keep the young Ariza to transition into a post-Kobe s om. Yet, general manager Mitch Kupchak barely blinked when Ariza’s agent, David Lee, started talking like a tough guy, parading his client on what one rival GM called “a leverage tour.”
The Lakers don’t believe he’ll leave, Lee kept barking. Surprise, surprise: Lee didn’t think the Lakers would tell him to get lost, sign Artest and leave Ariza to take the five-year, $33 million deal in Houston he could’ve had in L.A.
“I told Mitch that it was never about the money; it was about respect,” Lee told NBA.com.
Well, take your respect and pack your client’s bags for post-Yao lottery land in Houston. Respect? Yes, there are American soldiers and missionaries in faraway lands cheering for David Lee and this noble stand for the neglected and disenfranchised everywhere. It is about respect, and God knows a $33 million offer for Ariza’s eight points and four rebounds a game rates a disgraceful act.
No, this wasn’t about the money, nor his client’s needs. This was a failed power play, an embarrassment of the highest order. Looking back, Ariza will rue the day. He’s a good player, but he’ll never be a star elsewhere. He’ll just be another player on another team.
“He was way too emotional about this,” said a league executive who had talked to Lee in recent days.
Yet, you can be a star without being a star with the Lakers. When L.A. is winning championships, the role players become commodities. They get endorsements. They get television careers. Ask Rick Fox. Or Derek Fisher(notes). Ariza was an L.A. kid living a dream, 24 years old, a gifted, young talent on the defending champion, and his agent’s bluff backfired.
Now, Artest trades places with Ariza, and the Lakers get a dimension they haven’t had in a long, long time. Perhaps three or four years ago, Artest couldn’t have handled living and playing in L.A. He gives the Lakers sheer nastiness, and as an executive with one of his past teams said Thursday night, “Ronnie will show everyone that he can win. I think he’s matured, and overall, he’ll be on his best behavior. Phil [Jackson] has been through this before with Rodman. He’ll handle this.”
Ultimately, it wasn’t Jackson who made it work for two les with Rodman in Chicago, but Jordan. The locker room is policed by the superstar, never the coach. Artest is the right player, right time for Bryant. As Kobe hits his 30s, he can’t be chasing the best player on defense every night. Now, Artest gets the job. What’s more, Kobe gets a maniac who will want to please him, get his approval. Anything is possible with Ron-Ron running roughshod in Los Angeles.
“I hope it’s chaos,” a Western Conference GM texted Thursday night.
And maybe, in some ways, that won’t be the worst thing in the world for the Lakers. Chaos? That’s letting your agent’s agenda and big mouth get your butt shipped from the Los Angeles Lakers for lottery land in Houston. Kobe Bryant had been willing to take back his whole team, but Ariza made the mistake of giving the Lakers what they always wanted, what they always believed was available to them: the combustible and crazy Ron Artest.
Kobe Bryant gets his Rodman now, and yes, this is how all breaks loose in Hollywood.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns
LOL Ron Artest..
props on the bump double H
lol difference maker
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