Fresno King
Starter
From Marc Stein in the Weekend Dime on ESPN.com:
It's true: I implored the Kings to pass on trading for Ron Artest and now I'm saluting Denver, one year later, for gambling on Allen Iverson.
The difference?
The difference is that Iverson will still have trade value in a year, even at a salary nearly three times richer than Artest's, if the Nuggets conclude that there isn't enough room in the same offense for A.I. and Carmelo Anthony. Someone else, if necessary, will take a chance on Iverson, who offers at least three attractive commodities to any interested team -- dynamic scoring, box-office appeal and unquestioned effort -- no matter what you think of him.
Artest? I submitted then and repeat today that he'll be a lot harder for the Kings to move on -- for anything good -- if he backslides to the levels of unreliability he showed us in Chicago and Indiana.
Which is what we might be starting to see in Sacramento, where Artest pulled himself out of the Kings' TNT game Thursday with Washington just minutes before tip-off, stunning teammates and coach Eric Musselman by complaining of sore knees despite participating in the morning shootaround and pregame warm-ups.
It's not the first signal, either, that this isn't the same Artest who sparked the Kings' second-half resurgence last season after joining them in late January. There are recent reports, from multiple sources, of Artest sitting out a shootaround or two and then suddenly making himself available for that night's game, subbing himself in and out games and generally ignoring Musselman.
Artest has also complained publicly about the Kings' offense and defense, missed games with a mysterious back problem and frequently displayed questionable shot selection.
He likewise looks decidedly less than cozy next to Mike Bibby, with both shooting below 40 percent from the field and "whose team is it?" questions, as predicted, coming up regularly.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope this stuff is not as ominous as it looks, because I'm an Artest fan. He's not quite an entertainer in Iverson's class, but when Artest is at his best, you want to watch him play, too. But if things don't get better soon -- if Musselman can't assert more authority and if Artest and Bibby don't find some harmony -- the most compelling show in Sacramento might be watching how they go about fixing all this.
It's true: I implored the Kings to pass on trading for Ron Artest and now I'm saluting Denver, one year later, for gambling on Allen Iverson.
The difference?
The difference is that Iverson will still have trade value in a year, even at a salary nearly three times richer than Artest's, if the Nuggets conclude that there isn't enough room in the same offense for A.I. and Carmelo Anthony. Someone else, if necessary, will take a chance on Iverson, who offers at least three attractive commodities to any interested team -- dynamic scoring, box-office appeal and unquestioned effort -- no matter what you think of him.
Artest? I submitted then and repeat today that he'll be a lot harder for the Kings to move on -- for anything good -- if he backslides to the levels of unreliability he showed us in Chicago and Indiana.
Which is what we might be starting to see in Sacramento, where Artest pulled himself out of the Kings' TNT game Thursday with Washington just minutes before tip-off, stunning teammates and coach Eric Musselman by complaining of sore knees despite participating in the morning shootaround and pregame warm-ups.
It's not the first signal, either, that this isn't the same Artest who sparked the Kings' second-half resurgence last season after joining them in late January. There are recent reports, from multiple sources, of Artest sitting out a shootaround or two and then suddenly making himself available for that night's game, subbing himself in and out games and generally ignoring Musselman.
Artest has also complained publicly about the Kings' offense and defense, missed games with a mysterious back problem and frequently displayed questionable shot selection.
He likewise looks decidedly less than cozy next to Mike Bibby, with both shooting below 40 percent from the field and "whose team is it?" questions, as predicted, coming up regularly.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope this stuff is not as ominous as it looks, because I'm an Artest fan. He's not quite an entertainer in Iverson's class, but when Artest is at his best, you want to watch him play, too. But if things don't get better soon -- if Musselman can't assert more authority and if Artest and Bibby don't find some harmony -- the most compelling show in Sacramento might be watching how they go about fixing all this.
