http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/13974247p-14808159c.html
Don't order those Artest jerseys yet
Kings president Geoff Petrie dismisses rumors of trading Peja Stojakovic for the Indiana forward.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, December 13, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS - Ron Artest might want out of Indiana, but there is no indication he's headed into Sacramento.
According to Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie, the Kings and Pacers have not discussed any such deal involving Artest and Kings forward Peja Stojakovic.
"We don't have any trade discussions going on with anybody at the present time," Petrie said Monday. "I have not had any contact with anybody with Indiana. That's about where it is at the moment."
Artest, who missed 73 regular-season games and the playoffs last season after being suspended for triggering the Nov. 19, 2004, brawl in Detroit, told the Indianapolis Star on Saturday that he believes the Pacers would be better off without him. Of his possible new destinations, Artest said he would prefer to play for his hometown New York Knicks, but wouldn't mind joining Le-Bron James in Cleveland, either. The Kings were not mentioned.
On Monday, Pacers CEO and president Donnie Walsh announced he will put Artest on the team's inactive list for the rest of the week while he pursues a trade. According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, Walsh said there currently were no deals on the table. Artest, the 2003-04 Defensive Player of the Year who is in his eighth season, is averaging 19.4 points per game.
Petrie was the second member of the Kings' braintrust to deny any talk of moving Stojakovic, who is in the last year of his contract. When asked Friday about the Artest-for-Stojakovic talk, Kings coach Rick Adelman said: "I coach the team, and I'm telling you flat out, there has been no discussion about Peja. There has been very little conversation about anybody."
Artest's agent, Mark Stevens, also said he had "no knowledge" of dealings between the Kings and Pacers.
"If (a trade) goes down, it goes down," Stevens said. "But for right now, he's a Pacer.
"Ron is a player, so we're going to let the chips fall where they may."
While it has been reported that TNT analyst Charles Barkley - speaking before the Kings faced Houston on Thursday - said that Sacramento and Indiana were in discussions about the Artest-Stojakovic trade, a network spokesman indicated otherwise.
"We have checked the tape twice and have (found) no mention ... on an Artest-for-Peja trade," Jeff Pomeroy of TNT's media relations department wrote in an e-mail.
The fantasy trade has been a fan favorite since last season, in large part because of the Kings' need for quality defenders who can score and the fact that both players' salaries are in the same neighborhood.
Stojakovic is making $7.6 million this season. Artest, whose contract goes through 2008, is making $6.5 million this season, and is set to make $7.1 million next season and $7.8 million in 2007-08.
Not that the move is any fantasy of Stojakovic's.
"I can't really control what others are going to say or write about me," Stojakovic said. "I'm here. I like being here. I believe in this team, and I believe we have the potential to be good."
As does Petrie, whose vote of confidence regarding the current Kings group was his second in eight days.
"I've got confidence in our players, and you feel that way until there's a collective conclusion of some kind where you're past the point where you think it's reasonable to believe, I guess," he said Dec. 5. "They're just like anybody else, our players. And they're our guys.
"For me, we're going to keep working with them."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
Don't order those Artest jerseys yet
Kings president Geoff Petrie dismisses rumors of trading Peja Stojakovic for the Indiana forward.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, December 13, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS - Ron Artest might want out of Indiana, but there is no indication he's headed into Sacramento.
According to Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie, the Kings and Pacers have not discussed any such deal involving Artest and Kings forward Peja Stojakovic.
"We don't have any trade discussions going on with anybody at the present time," Petrie said Monday. "I have not had any contact with anybody with Indiana. That's about where it is at the moment."
Artest, who missed 73 regular-season games and the playoffs last season after being suspended for triggering the Nov. 19, 2004, brawl in Detroit, told the Indianapolis Star on Saturday that he believes the Pacers would be better off without him. Of his possible new destinations, Artest said he would prefer to play for his hometown New York Knicks, but wouldn't mind joining Le-Bron James in Cleveland, either. The Kings were not mentioned.
On Monday, Pacers CEO and president Donnie Walsh announced he will put Artest on the team's inactive list for the rest of the week while he pursues a trade. According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, Walsh said there currently were no deals on the table. Artest, the 2003-04 Defensive Player of the Year who is in his eighth season, is averaging 19.4 points per game.
Petrie was the second member of the Kings' braintrust to deny any talk of moving Stojakovic, who is in the last year of his contract. When asked Friday about the Artest-for-Stojakovic talk, Kings coach Rick Adelman said: "I coach the team, and I'm telling you flat out, there has been no discussion about Peja. There has been very little conversation about anybody."
Artest's agent, Mark Stevens, also said he had "no knowledge" of dealings between the Kings and Pacers.
"If (a trade) goes down, it goes down," Stevens said. "But for right now, he's a Pacer.
"Ron is a player, so we're going to let the chips fall where they may."
While it has been reported that TNT analyst Charles Barkley - speaking before the Kings faced Houston on Thursday - said that Sacramento and Indiana were in discussions about the Artest-Stojakovic trade, a network spokesman indicated otherwise.
"We have checked the tape twice and have (found) no mention ... on an Artest-for-Peja trade," Jeff Pomeroy of TNT's media relations department wrote in an e-mail.
The fantasy trade has been a fan favorite since last season, in large part because of the Kings' need for quality defenders who can score and the fact that both players' salaries are in the same neighborhood.
Stojakovic is making $7.6 million this season. Artest, whose contract goes through 2008, is making $6.5 million this season, and is set to make $7.1 million next season and $7.8 million in 2007-08.
Not that the move is any fantasy of Stojakovic's.
"I can't really control what others are going to say or write about me," Stojakovic said. "I'm here. I like being here. I believe in this team, and I believe we have the potential to be good."
As does Petrie, whose vote of confidence regarding the current Kings group was his second in eight days.
"I've got confidence in our players, and you feel that way until there's a collective conclusion of some kind where you're past the point where you think it's reasonable to believe, I guess," he said Dec. 5. "They're just like anybody else, our players. And they're our guys.
"For me, we're going to keep working with them."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
