Rundown of possible Artest destinations

[nbrans]

Now that the trade deadline is nearing, I went through the league and compiled the remaining teams who might be interested in Artest, and what the deal might look like.

Denver:
Still, at least according to rumors, the most likely destination. Artest gives them perimeter defense and another scoring option.

What the deal might look like:
Artest for Najera/Kleiza
Artest for Najera/1st
Artest/KT for Najera/Nene

New York
While I've seen some rumors that suggest that Isiah plans to make a run at Artest in the offseason, they could make a stab at getting his Bird rights either on his own or while unloading Zach Randolph.

What the deal might look like:

Artest/KT to NYK; Zach Randolph to Denver; Nene/Najera to Sacramento
Artest, KT for Fred Jones/Dan Dickau/Malik Rose

Lakers
Now that they have Pau Gasol, the Lakers would be TRULY scary if they also had Artest at the 3.

What the deal might look like:

Artest/KT for Odom

San Antonio
The Spurs could really use Artest's defense, as Bruce Bowen isn't really looking like his old self, and help relieve some of the pressure on the big three. They have a ton of expirings, although you have to wonder if they would risk their chemistry to take on Artest

What the deal might look like:
Artest for Barry/Elson/Splitter/1st

Phoenix
Another team that might be willing to risk the Artest experiment in the hopes of winning it all this year. But would they be willing to pay the tax to get him?

What the deal might look like:
Artest for trade exception/Atlanta's First

Cleveland
Now that Hughes seems to kind of be coming along, maybe they'd spring for a Hughes/LeBron/Artest lineup? Problem is, they don't have many appealing assets.

What the deal might look like:
Artest/KT for Newble/Snow/Marshall/pick?


Any others?

 

[VF21]

I don't know how they'd do it, but I can see the Rockets in the mix.

 

[nbrans]

^Yeah, I had a hard time coming up with something viable so I didn't end up including them. I don't think they'd include Scola, and it's not like Bonzi coming back would really happen. About the closest I could think of was Artest for Snyder/Francis/Brooks/Landry, but what three players would we waive to make that happen?

 

[mojorizen7]

Well...from a SAC town KINGS fan perspective which of those scenarios
would get you the most in terms of value going forward?

 

[=LarryLegend=]

phx!

 

[GregR31]

I think Kleiza/Najera trade would.

 

[mojorizen7]

phx!

I was hoping you'd say that. Still keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

 

[=LarryLegend=]

atl's pick we probably could have got in the bib trade if alt still had it. and then traded artest to den for najera and pick.


larry dreams of kings having 3 first rounders!

 

[Heuge]

There is also the Stephen A. Phili rumor.

 

[kings20993]

There is also the Stephen A. Phili rumor.

That rumor was shut down today on espn, anything can happen though

 

[Arkitect]

Unless Petrie is a magician, I think the only places Artest might end up are Denver and Phoenix. The rest of those teams either don't need him or don't want him because of his character issues. Denver is the most appealing, especially if we get Nene or Kleiza. Phoenix would be okay, though I don't think Atlanta's pick will be anything amazing. New York has no reason to give anything up to get him. The Lakers and San Antonio are happy with what they have. Cleveland is not going to want him. The only thing I could see happening is somehow we get a three way trade going. If Petrie is able to unload Artest before the deadline and gets anything worthwile in return, I will definately be impressed.

 

[Packt]

Artest to Portland for Miles and their 08 1st.

Portland might not want Artest's baggage, but it could only be for a few months. That's infinitely better than Miles for two more years. Worse case scenario, they have an 8mil expiring contract to shop around next season.

We get a possible lottery pick or one just outside lottery. We have to deal with Miles for two more years at 9mil a year, but he can't be worse than any of the other players who've come here. The pick is what's important because after the Bibby trade we have no PG under contract next year. The extra pick will come in handy.

 

[Warhawk]

Artest to Portland for Miles and their 08 1st.

Portland might not want Artest's baggage, but it could only be for a few months. That's infinitely better than Miles for two more years. Worse case scenario, they have an 8mil expiring contract to shop around next season.

We get a possible lottery pick or one just outside lottery. We have to deal with Miles for two more years at 9mil a year, but he can't be worse than any of the other players who've come here. The pick is what's important because after the Bibby trade we have no PG under contract next year. The extra pick will come in handy.

Just ...... No.

 

[nbrans]

Well...from a SAC town KINGS fan perspective which of those scenarios
would get you the most in terms of value going forward?

My preference is any deal where KT is attached to the deal and we still get good value. I'm rooting for Artest/KT for Najera/Nene/Kleiza

 

[Dime Dropper]

My preference is any deal where KT is attached to the deal and we still get good value. I'm rooting for Artest/KT for Najera/Nene/Kleiza

Denver doesn't really want to trade Najera and Kleiza for Ron. So giving up Nene for KT really makes it a no-no. Denver would never do that.

I also think there's no way Portland tries to trade for Ron. He is not what a rebuilding team needs. They are looking 100% good for the future, aquiring Ron could just change that in a flas. I'm sure they'll be looking to add yet another good prospect in this draft, as well.

 

[bench_blob]

My preference is any deal where KT is attached to the deal and we still get good value. I'm rooting for Artest/KT for Najera/Nene/Kleiza

This is the best of the bunch. Kleiza has shown STAR quality, in just a year and half in the league. He has effortless shooting stroke, great range and size, good feel for the game, he can be an 18-20 point scorer in the league. He would mix well with Beno and Miller, space the floor, and open up the paint.

As a fan of the Kings first and NBA second, I want to see this deal because that Nugget threesome would have legit shot to take out Western conference teams I highly disfavor, namely the Lakers, Warriors, Mavs and Spurs. Artest, AI, and Carmelo would very formidable, I'd love to see those guys play together, and go deep in the playoffs.

A.I. is in his 30s now, and time is running out, I think the Nuggets would be dim-witted not to improve their offer and make a real strong proposal in the next few days:

Kleiza/Najera/ future #1 for Artest

or

Kleiza/Nene/KT for Artest/KT

Just do it.

 

[Bibby7500]

resign ron at end of season

 

[rings4Kings]

resign ron at end of season

Noooooooooooooooo!!!

 

[mojorizen7]

At this point any contender wont want to take the chance an risk their chemistry to take on a guy like Artest thats a chance most wont take

More than likely yes but i felt the same way before the SUNS brought in Shaq. While O'Neil is a good piece to add for locker-room chemistry, putting a big,slow,center on the court among a bunch of gazelles may be stretching the limits of the on-court chemistry thats been in place here.
Anyway,at this point in the Western Conference with all the big moves going on, i wouldn't be surprised at a contender taking a gamble on Artest for the stretch run.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Just saw another talking head NBA analyst on ESPN saying after the Gasol, Shaq, and probable Kidd trade, only major "rumor to be" was Artest on the move - obviously. Denver and Cleveland were most active bidders at this point he said, but Petrie was apparently holding out less for talent in return and more for cap help in unloading contracts along with Artest. It will be interesting to see once it happens which trade looks "better," for the Kings organization, the one that just happened or the next one about to (before 02-21-08 deadline).

 

[LPKingsFan]

Denver and Cleveland were most active bidders at this point he said, but Petrie was apparently holding out less for talent in return and more for cap help in unloading contracts along with Artest.

I'm not sure I agree with this strategy. I'd almost rather just ride out the KT and SAR contracts and get the best picks/prospects we could get for Ron now. Then, by the time you're ready to make your run in 2010, you've got some nice players developed and then have free agency to add the final piece.

If we're going for cap space, then why not go all out and ship Miller for the Orlando package of epxirings and picks?

 

[nbrans]

I'm not sure I agree with this strategy. I'd almost rather just ride out the KT and SAR contracts and get the best picks/prospects we could get for Ron now. Then, by the time you're ready to make your run in 2010, you've got some nice players developed and then have free agency to add the final piece.

If we're going for cap space, then why not go all out and ship Miller for the Orlando package of epxirings and picks?

Well, you could theoretically do both.

Let's say we do both ship out Miller for the Orlando expirings and package Artest for one year off of SAR's and KT's deals.

2008 offseason:

$13 million in cap space -- sign Calderon, lower tier free agent

2009 offseason:

whoever we got for SAR and KT come off the cap, another $13 million in cap room -- sign another top tier free agent

This moves everything up a year, and we'd be competitive much faster.

 

[Gary]

Please don't ask me to find the link, but Phoenix is supposedly interested in Salmons. The Link is probably buried in the links from his Philadelphia days when Phoenix was looking to get him, and when Toronto had him, but he said "god didn't want him to play for Toronto" or whatever the story was. I don't think Phoenix wants a guy like Artest.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if Boston makes a run at Miller, and Lue/Johnson. their PG situation is abysmal, and they could use a guy like Brad dishing from the elbow.

As for Artest it's probably Denver, and there might be a 3rd team involved to get things to iron out correctly salary wise, because I think Denver might want to keep a couple pieces that would be rumored to Sacramento.

This is just me talking but I feel that Artest for Kleiza might work out, and Petrie might try to move Salmons to Phoenix in order to keep the SF/SG organized. An Artest for Kleiza deal would still have the logjam effect we currently have at SG/SF. So I wouldn't be surprised if those Phoenix dealings aren't true. Let's face it, Garcia plays better off the bench than Salmons by far, but Salmons is only a little better than Garcia starting. Garcia is better fit for this team than Salmons is at this point. Plus Garcia is cheaper. So I wouldn't be surprised if Salmons is part of a deal being concocted as we write this.

 

[nbrans]

Please don't ask me to find the link, but Phoenix is supposedly interested in Salmons. The Link is probably buried in the links from his Philadelphia days when Phoenix was looking to get him, and when Toronto had him, but he said "god didn't want him to play for Toronto" or whatever the story was. I don't think Phoenix wants a guy like Artest.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if Boston makes a run at Miller, and Lue/Johnson. their PG situation is abysmal, and they could use a guy like Brad dishing from the elbow.

Phoenix was interested in Salmons, but I can't see any scenario where we'd want to give him up for what Phoenix has to offer.

And Boston doesn't have the contracts to make a trade for Miller.

 

[Smills91]

I think Toronto is the ideal situation to trade Ron to:

A) He goes East
B) We can attach Kenny
C) We can fill a need in the process

Kings deal:
Ron/Kenny/Lue

Raptors deal:
Ford/Rasho/Dixon/Humphries

We can even include a Lue/Humphries swap to give Toronto a back-up PG to Calderon and then re-direct Humprhies to Philly for Giricek.

Kings roster after trade.
C: Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes, Rasho Nesterovic
PF: Mikki Moore, Shelden Williams, SAR
SF: John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, Gordan Giricek
SG: Kevin Martin, Quincy Douby, Juan Dixon
PG: TJ Ford, Beno Udrih, Anthony Johnson

Waive Lorenzen Wright

 

[Jerichoholic]

I'm all about cap relief and it would be great to rid ourselves of KT but if the rumored deal I read from yahoo sports is true, Artest for Najera, Kleiza, AND a 1st round pick then Petrie should sign on immediately and thank the gods soon thereafter.

Getting an expiring contract, a young player with a ton of promise, and a mid to late 1st round pick is huge, especially the way Petrie has done late in drafts over the past few years.

Kleiza gives us another young player to build with or to possibly include in another trade next year.

Not to mention that a Kings lottery pick with Denver's pick could potentally be traded in next year's draft to acquire a top 5 pick.

 

[Gary]

Phoenix was interested in Salmons, but I can't see any scenario where we'd want to give him up for what Phoenix has to offer.

And Boston doesn't have the contracts to make a trade for Miller.

Yah.. Still can't find the link. Wish I bookmarked it. It was buried in a bunch of other rumors, and it was not on a traditional nba.com/yahoo.com ect type site. I think it was a blog of a newspaper writer.

Every time I did a search it would bring up all the old stuff from 2006 when the Suns were interested in him. Oh well.. We will see.. I didn't think Phoenix had anything to offer us outside an expiring or two, but the way Salmons was playing I would just as well keep him.

 

[Smills91]

We can't rebuild until Kenny's deal is gone. Even one year less helps. Brad/Sar, IMO, can be moved for expirings on their own down the road, but Kenny HAS to go with ARtest. If we deal artest it's a rebuild project and you won't be able to rebuild until Kenny's deal is off the books. If you took the 16 million off the books from Artest/Kenny then you just got yourself 10 million + to spend this summer and go after a Calderon/Josh Smith/Okafor level player.

 

[PurpleHaze]

We can't rebuild until Kenny's deal is gone. Even one year less helps.

I agree 100%. That's why I think Petrie is holding out til possibly 11th hour of the deadline to get Artest deal done. If he plays Denver and Cleveland off against each other, plus anyone else interested in a serious bid maybe it can happen - some kind of major cap relief. Otherwise, he has got to pull the trigger it would seem and take the best offer out there since to just let Artest walk would not be smart - unless intending to resign him - not likely.

 

[nbrans]

I think Toronto is the ideal situation to trade Ron to:

A) He goes East
B) We can attach Kenny
C) We can fill a need in the process

Kings deal:
Ron/Kenny/Lue

Raptors deal:
Ford/Rasho/Dixon/Humphries

We can even include a Lue/Humphries swap to give Toronto a back-up PG to Calderon and then re-direct Humprhies to Philly for Giricek.

Kings roster after trade.
C: Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes, Rasho Nesterovic
PF: Mikki Moore, Shelden Williams, SAR
SF: John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, Gordan Giricek
SG: Kevin Martin, Quincy Douby, Juan Dixon
PG: TJ Ford, Beno Udrih, Anthony Johnson

Waive Lorenzen Wright

There is no way Toronto would agree to this. Artest for Ford is a stretch, let alone saddling them with KT. This just doesn't fit what Colangelo has been building at all.