Artest to Knicks rumors won't die soon

[VF21]

Ya, the Pacers have been much better the last 1+1/2yrs Ronrons been gone...

Pretty much irrelevant. The Pacers had to cut out the cancer that was Artest. To do so, they took back Peja as a one-year rental. Yes, they have other problems. But they finally got rid of Stephen Jackson, which was also a big festering sore, so they may actually have the worst behind them.

The Kings may not be so lucky if they don't find a way to move Artest before the next episode. And yes, there's always going to be another episode. It's as much a fact as the sun rising in the east. Better to deal with the situation now than have to deal with the fallout afterwards.

 

[D13]

Agreed in some ways... the Pacers had chemistry issues anyway, aside from Ron. I'm sure he amplified things on occasion, but my point is Ron's been gone from Indy long enough to show they still had bummers. Whether their chemistry is better now that the "cancers" are gone is still undetermined. They certainly aren't any better than we are right now... at least all our players want to stay.

Quoting SacKings7; "Just ask Pacers fans"... If you listen to the angry Pacer fans out there (I visit Pacerdigest too VF21), it's easy to be swayed by the bitterness. IMO most of it comes from the slap of Ron's trade request. Most Pacer fans were with him through the trouble up until then. Amazing enough there has been more than a few threads on PD about getting Artest back.

Personalities and roles are important, and I believe on court chemistry starts with cohesiveness and unity. Ron gets along with everyone on the Kings no matter what the internet babble says. Any Kings player I've seen interviewed says Ron's a great teammate.

 

[LPKingsFan]

. Ron gets along with everyone on the Kings no matter what the internet babble says. Any Kings player I've seen interviewed says Ron's a great teammate.

Just because something won't be said on the record, doesn't mean it isn't true.

How's that for a triple negative?

 

[Smills91]

Just because something won't be said on the record, doesn't mean it isn't true.

How's that for a triple negative?

Maybe, just maybe, they're ALL telling the truth. I've heard Douby, Kevin, Bibby, Francisco all comment on how much they like Ron the TEAMMATE AND PERSON.

So either your like Brick and think people are inherently evil(liars and two faced) or you're like Bibbilicious and think people are inherently good)truth tellers that are open and honest).

I'll fall in the latter category. You can choose to believe what you wish.

 

[Kings113]

That's just it. He can do that to teams by disrupting their chemistry...just ask Pacer fans

But he hasn't here with the Kings with any significance. That's where things differ a whole lot from Indiana.

Artest in that Hawks game, because he wasn't playing that well - made the other regulars and veterans suck? I don't buy that at all. It was one game, and the others could of played better with their capability and talent. But they didn't. Along with a combination of the losing, on the road later in the season out of the playoffs, and playing Atlanta in Atlanta. Might of been a 2nd of a BTB, also. Along with all that for Ron, I think the wife-issue could of been on his mind at times there, due to how he was playing.

Whereas in other games when he came back from being excused, he was fine. Only other thing at all where had any off-ness, was he had some obvious rust scoring the ball in the first game back versus the Nuggets at Arco on ABC. Due to being away from the team and basketball for a week.

The young guys (aside from maybe Kevin, not sure) in that road Atlanta game played well when they got the chance for most of the 2nd half.

Maybe, just maybe, they're ALL telling the truth. I've heard Douby, Kevin, Bibby, Francisco all comment on how much they like Ron the TEAMMATE AND PERSON.

So either your like Brick and think people are inherently evil(liars and two faced) or you're like Bibbilicious and think people are inherently good)truth tellers that are open and honest).

I'll fall in the latter category. You can choose to believe what you wish.

Add Justin Williams, Brad, and Corliss (I think), as well. It's also displayed on the court and on the bench, aside from quotes/interviews.

Until there is something legitimate reported (who knows if there ever will be), I just can't buy into any of the speculation by various people, on the possible lying and covering up in the public.

 

[PFFFT!!]

You know, an interesting thing happens at the end of this month: the trade restriction on Fred Jones and Dan Dickau expires. And all of a sudden this becomes possible:

Ron Artest $7.8mil

for

Fred Jones $3.3mil (ender)
Dan Dickau $2.8mil (ender)
Nate Robinson $1.3mil (ender -- team option)
Renaldo Balkman $1.2mil (ender -- team option)
1st rnd pick

-- making sense of Bucher's rumor, and providing us with precisely the holy trinity of enders, picks and kids. A true rebuilding trade.


Questions I would have would be:
1) would Zeke give up 3 of his 4 backup PGs? If he did, it would be Nate I suppose -- I remain intrigued by Collins. Then again, likely so does Zeke, although Nate is the more proven backup. Crawford's ability to play some PG helps.
2) And if we picked up 3 PGs like that (whether the third be Nate or Collins), would that pave the way for a second deal involving Bibby?
3)Also, have lost track of what Zeke has already given away, so not sure when that 1st could come. Next year? Year after?
4) Nonetheless, ala Ainge with his youth, Zeke would have managed to turn Frye, Francis, Nate and Renaldo into Zach Randolph and Ron Artest, which ain't a bad haul. If one with a bad attitude. Bad Boys/brawling Knicks all over again.

And maybe, just mayeb, we could throw in a swap of KT or SAR for Malik Rose in as well -- shave a year off those contracts, and Rose is unquestionably a good guy. Of course beginning to add risk for the Knicks then with too many grumpy characters, or too many post players (all three of their starting frontcourt guys being post guys -- thick, physical, no scrawnies allowed, dominant inside, but too many get in each other's way).

Wonderful, and your still stuck with wonderboy deadweights KT and Miller who together make more than the rest of the team (or close to it). Bah.

 

[Bricklayer]

Wonderful, and your still stuck with wonderboy deadweights KT and Miller who together make more than the rest of the team (or close to it). Bah.

Not sure what that has to do with anything -- although I did note that maybe, just maybe, we could throw in a KT for Malik Rose swap as an additional part of our fee.


As for Brad, if our GM is still breathing, I actually retian some longshot hopes wiht him on the same Eastern Conference post-KG escalation theory as the Artest stuff. Two places come to mind:

1) Toronto -- a team trying to be serious, but without anything approaching a decent center. Brad's name does not have nearly enough consonants or vowels strung together to fit their motiff, but he could play that style, and is an upgrade over what they've got. A deal for Rasho (2 yr contract), one of the 3 or 4 enders they have (Graham, Humphries etc.), and maybe just maybe a first (in the 18-25 range) works financially.

2) Orlando -- a team trying to be serious as well, and needing to solidify things to justify the Rashard massacre. Having lost Darko, they could use a quality NBA center. And they have a whole stack of ending contracts sitting around atached to marginal players. They could get Brad for almost free (as far as cost in talent). And we could be out from under that contract by next summer. Question would be whether they need those enders as a cushion for Dwight and Rashard's escalalting contracts.

 

[SacKings7]

But he hasn't here with the Kings with any significance. That's where things differ a whole lot from Indiana.

Artest in that Hawks game, because he wasn't playing that well - made the other regulars and veterans suck? I don't buy that at all. It was one game, and the others could of played better with their capability and talent. But they didn't. Along with a combination of the losing, on the road later in the season out of the playoffs, and playing Atlanta in Atlanta. Might of been a 2nd of a BTB, also. Along with all that for Ron, I think the wife-issue could of been on his mind at times there, due to how he was playing.

Whereas in other games when he came back from being excused, he was fine. Only other thing at all where had any off-ness, was he had some obvious rust scoring the ball in the first game back versus the Nuggets at Arco on ABC. Due to being away from the team and basketball for a week.

The young guys (aside from maybe Kevin, not sure) in that road Atlanta game played well when they got the chance for most of the 2nd half.



Add Justin Williams, Brad, and Corliss (I think), as well. It's also displayed on the court and on the bench, aside from quotes/interviews.

Until there is something legitimate reported (who knows if there ever will be), I just can't buy into any of the speculation by various people, on the possible lying and covering up in the public.

I know. I agree, up to this point he hasn't been much of a problem. But its Ron Artest. As much as I like what he does on the court, it doesn't make up for the stupid stuff he does off the court. We should trade him while his value is high, or at least while its not at the bottom of the ocean

 

[SacKings7]

Ya, the Pacers have been much better the last 1+1/2yrs Ronrons been gone...

If Ron Artest was sane, they'd be much better, and he'd probably still be there. But instead, they were forced to trade him to us for a half-season rental of Peja (they made the playoffs that year btw). They then lost Peja for nothing. So they go from having a nice 1-2 punch in JO-Artest to having just JO.
Let's face it, there'll always be 2 sides to any argument concerning Ron Artest..