Artest to the Lakers

galex323 · Unread post by **galex323** » July 2nd, 2009, 5:01 pm

Free-agent forward Ron Artest says he's leaving the Houston Rockets to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

Artest
Artest

In a text message to ESPN.com on Thursday night, Artest wrote: "I am happy to say I am goin' to L.A."

ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard reports that Artest and the Lakers have reached a verbal agreement on what is believed to be a three-year contract worth an estimated $18 million. Wednesday is the first day free agents are permitted to sign new deals.

Artest's decision was first reported by CBSSports.com. The mercurial swingman was initially courted by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his text message, Artest said that he met Thursday with Lakers owner Jerry Buss and had spoken to coach Phil Jackson about the move to Los Angeles, where Artest has been spending his offseasons.

Artest's forthcoming arrival strongly suggests that unrestricted free agent Trevor Ariza -- who played such a pivotal run in the Lakers' championship run -- is bound to leave the team. Broussard reported Wednesday that, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Ariza was likely to leave the Lakers for a new team because L.A. was reluctant to sign him to a contract starting above the league's $5.6 million mid-level exception, even after Ariza's postseason success.

Ariza has been courted by numerous teams, including Cleveland, and met Thursday in Las Vegas with Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to possibly swap spots with Artest.

Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.

Unread post by **joker123** » July 3rd, 2009, 3:52 pm

i read that shit on yahoo...lol

CharmzX3 · Unread post by **CharmzX3** » July 4th, 2009, 11:19 pm

be a trip to see kobe and artest have actual chemistry seein how they been rivals for awhile been fists thrown. hmmm. best perimeter defense for the LA Lakers now tho.

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 5th, 2009, 2:06 pm

As a fan, sponsor, owner, you have to remain conscious of his attitude, but other than that this is a great move.

Kobe and artest will get along just fine, they are two players that are a lot alike. Artest is very versatile, he can play offense, defense, rebound, shoot the three, but most importantly he brings that attitude that we need. With him and Kobe I think we are perfect in that area. Good move.

YouTube · Unread post by **alexalonso** » July 5th, 2009, 3:27 pm

CharmzX3 wrote:be a trip to see kobe and artest have actual chemistry seein how they been rivals for awhile been fists thrown. hmmm. best perimeter defense for the LA Lakers now tho.

Trevor Ariza was bring the Defense, improved his offense and is younger so I dont think this was a great move. Artest is stonger and can play de in the post but the Lakers proved that had a winning team.

Unread post by **$outhPhillypuppet** » July 5th, 2009, 3:51 pm

alexalonso wrote:Trevor Ariza was bring the Defense, improved his offense and is younger so I dont think this was a great move. Artest is stonger and can play de in the post but the Lakers proved that had a winning team.

Artest is now the second best player on the talent heavy laker team.
how is that not a good move?

Unread post by **jai!** » July 6th, 2009, 1:44 am

man artest hard n all
but they need ariza to' real shit

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 6th, 2009, 11:06 am

Look at the whole picture. Ariza wasn't even a starter.

He was not a good three point shooter until he came to the Lakers where Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were the first two options, leaving him open on the perimiter. He would be left wide open with plenty of time to set up.

Yes, he played good defense but he was just a role player. He complimented Kobe Bryant, thats it and thats all.

Bottomline is his agent fumbled the ball!

Leaving L.A. was a bad move and Laker Fans are not complaining because Artest is an upgrade and more willing to take a paycut to play here. So....

Thanks for helping as win a championship, but you won't win any in Houston!

YouTube · Unread post by **alexalonso** » July 8th, 2009, 3:31 am

Artest is not a good fit with the Lakers. I think he is going to be a divider once they get in a slump and go on a loosing streak. There will be alot of finger pointing and disension among the team. The Lakers need a top notch point guard that can play defense and that can score. Artest can be a ball hog and forgets at times that there are 4 others on the team, and when he starts heaving those 3 pointers that go no where, Kobe is gonna get pissed. They already had the pieces and getting a better player (Artest) does not always mean that the team will be better.

Ariza was getting better each season. we'll see.

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 8th, 2009, 1:24 pm

I agree the Lakers need better guard play, and better players dont make better teams, but Artest is an all star who's able to shoot, rebound, and defend. He brings instant toughness to the Lakers.

I dont even think ariza made all stars, he originally came off the bench, again, he was a role player and the only reason why his 3 point percentage increased is because he was usually left wide open because of Gasol and Bryant. Houston wont have McGrady and Yao.

Ariza was perfect for the Laker team/organization, but you guys are not looking at the business aspect either. The Lakers have some huge salaries that werent particularly good moves and now they are stuck with them. Now they have to work around the salary cap to avoid 20 million in league fines. Ariza wasn't happy with 5.8 million but Artest is hapy with 6 million.

Again, his agent should have done a better job negotiating; the Lakers can careless about Ariza because they were focused on Artest anyway. They knew over a year ago that they had Artest in their back pocket.

Notice all the pro-Artest talk going on before the Laker/Houston series and the competitiveness. Kobe often spoke highly of Artest's game. Go a year before that, Artest was at a couple Laker games.

CharmzX3 · Unread post by **CharmzX3** » July 9th, 2009, 7:50 am

im just excited to the lakers pull off another championship season. lakers are back at it and a force not to be reckoned with.

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 9th, 2009, 10:30 am

lakers just re-signed Shannon Brown too. That will help at the guard spot.

Unread post by **AztecNinja** » July 9th, 2009, 3:04 pm

I like the Artest signing, but would have also like to keep Trevor. What Kupchek really needs to is get Lamar signed at any cost. The Spurs are beefin up with Mcdyess and Richard Jefferson, we NEED Lamar, he's the glue that keeps the Lakers puzzle together. Artest is too short to play PF, without Lamar Artest will play out of position most of the time and that will really hurt his game.(like go crazy or somthin)

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 9th, 2009, 5:10 pm

McDyess.. are you serious? He poses no threat.

I still think Odom is far overrated as he only plays well in short spurts. If Bynum gets healthy or plays better I think Artest will benefit more than play out of position. Odom was ALWAYS out of position when he was daydreaming from his sugar highs...

Unread post by **AztecNinja** » July 9th, 2009, 6:16 pm

AllhoodPublications wrote:McDyess.. are you serious? He poses no threat.

I still think Odom is far overrated as he only plays well in short spurts. If Bynum gets healthy or plays better I think Artest will benefit more than play out of position. Odom was ALWAYS out of position when he was daydreaming from his sugar highs...

C'mon homie, why no love for LO? After Pau and Kobe he was our best player. LO does all the little things that dont show up on the stats sheet. I never understood the LO hate. If I had a choice between LO or Trevor AND Artest I'd still take LO. Shoot, LO could claim the Varrio if he wants.lol.

Unread post by **353** » July 9th, 2009, 6:50 pm

Yep,Artest bout to get that ring!Hope he stay focused,listen to Phil,play D and hit 40% from the 3.
Ariza went out like a sucka,should have kept his azz in LA and continued gettin his shine on,thanks for the help,see ya
now we got better,more experienced help at a discount.
Is Odom signing soon or what?

LAKESHOW!

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 9th, 2009, 8:33 pm

C'mon homie, why no love for LO? After Pau and Kobe he was our best player.

Is that when he was a bench player or a starter?

LO does all the little things that dont show up on the stats sheet.

I agree, like standing around staring at Gasol and Walton like, "Whose man was that?" and getting rebounds and trying to dribble rim to rim as if he's Jason Kidd, then throw the ball away, travel, or draw an offensive foul.

I never understood the LO hate.

I never understood how a NBA veteran of over 10 years still hasnt reached his potential. But homie, if the truth is hate then LO hates himself! He must hate Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and his Doctors too. Even when Kobe made that statement saying, LO can be a Hall Of Famer if he puts his mind to it". Thats a hinjt that his mind is somewhere else. Maybe its on his personal life off of the court, maybe its the chronic, or maybe its the lack of sugar during games. Whatever it is he's admitted to not being focused on the court so how is that hating??

Unread post by **AztecNinja** » July 9th, 2009, 9:25 pm

AllhoodPublications wrote:C'mon homie, why no love for LO? After Pau and Kobe he was our best player.

Is that when he was a bench player or a starter?

LO does all the little things that dont show up on the stats sheet.

I agree, like standing around staring at Gasol and Walton like, "Whose man was that?" and getting rebounds and trying to dribble rim to rim as if he's Jason Kidd, then throw the ball away, travel, or draw an offensive foul.

I never understood the LO hate.

I never understood how a NBA veteran of over 10 years still hasnt reached his potential. But homie, if the truth is hate then LO hates himself! He must hate Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and his Doctors too. Even when Kobe made that statement saying, LO can be a Hall Of Famer if he puts his mind to it". Thats a hinjt that his mind is somewhere else. Maybe its on his personal life off of the court, maybe its the chronic, or maybe its the lack of sugar during games. Whatever it is he's admitted to not being focused on the court so how is that hating??

We must be looking at 2 different players, the LO I saw was the one who finally got some rebounds after Bynum got thrown around in the post, and in the finals Lamar was giving DHoward fits, go watch the games and pay close attention on how much the game changes when Lamar is in there. And it doesnt matter if Lamar starts or comes off the bench he is still the best player on the floor behind Kobe and Pau. How can you go and discredit him when he did so much of the muscle work down low when Pau and Bynum were being punks. Your trippin homie go watch the playoffs again then speak on Lamar.

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 10th, 2009, 1:41 pm

AztecNinja wrote:
AllhoodPublications wrote:C'mon homie, why no love for LO? After Pau and Kobe he was our best player.

Is that when he was a bench player or a starter?

LO does all the little things that dont show up on the stats sheet.

I agree, like standing around staring at Gasol and Walton like, "Whose man was that?" and getting rebounds and trying to dribble rim to rim as if he's Jason Kidd, then throw the ball away, travel, or draw an offensive foul.

I never understood the LO hate.

I never understood how a NBA veteran of over 10 years still hasnt reached his potential. But homie, if the truth is hate then LO hates himself! He must hate Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and his Doctors too. Even when Kobe made that statement saying, LO can be a Hall Of Famer if he puts his mind to it". Thats a hinjt that his mind is somewhere else. Maybe its on his personal life off of the court, maybe its the chronic, or maybe its the lack of sugar during games. Whatever it is he's admitted to not being focused on the court so how is that hating??
We must be looking at 2 different players, the LO I saw was the one who finally got some rebounds after Bynum got thrown around in the post, and in the finals Lamar was giving DHoward fits, go watch the games and pay close attention on how much the game changes when Lamar is in there. And it doesnt matter if Lamar starts or comes off the bench he is still the best player on the floor behind Kobe and Pau. How can you go and discredit him when he did so much of the muscle work down low when Pau and Bynum were being punks. Your trippin homie go watch the playoffs again then speak on Lamar.

Unread post by **jdm894g** » August 2nd, 2009, 9:36 am

As a Celtic fan, im happy the FAKERS got Artest. He jacks up a lot of shots that are not in the offensive flow. Go ahead artest, shoot them out of games.

Unread post by **joker123** » August 3rd, 2009, 8:15 pm

FUCK CELTICS!!!
ITS ALL ABOUT THEM LAKERS 09!!!

NYTE_RYDA · Unread post by **NYTE_RYDA** » August 9th, 2009, 3:38 pm

alexalonso wrote:Artest is not a good fit with the Lakers. I think he is going to be a divider once they get in a slump and go on a loosing streak. There will be alot of finger pointing and disension among the team. The Lakers need a top notch point guard that can play defense and that can score. Artest can be a ball hog and forgets at times that there are 4 others on the team, and when he starts heaving those 3 pointers that go no where, Kobe is gonna get pissed. They already had the pieces and getting a better player (Artest) does not always mean that the team will be better.

Ariza was getting better each season. we'll see.

Alonso, I'm just going to be blunt with this. You come off as someone who dislikes this team for whatever reason, granted you are entitled to your own opinion, but I'm stating what seems to be obvious here. Your overly pessimistic/negative attitude towards the Lakers is always apparent and detectable in your post, through one way or another. Most of the predictions/assessments you have made so far regarding teams and their success/failures has in itself failed, and rather badly.

alexalonso wrote:Artest is not a good fit with the Lakers.

There is really no room to make these kinds of unwarranted claims with out waiting for the season to begin and play out first.

alexalonso wrote:we'll see.

Yeah, that's all we can do as of now.

NYTE_RYDA · Unread post by **NYTE_RYDA** » August 9th, 2009, 3:41 pm

AllhoodPublications wrote: Odom was ALWAYS out of position when he was daydreaming from his sugar highs...

lol

Unread post by **Tre** » December 31st, 2009, 5:12 am

The Lakers really could use his defense right now! Hopefully no hidden health issues will arise from the concussion he suffered on 12-25. A dude that big taking a fall like that is SERIOUS! You don’t realize how tall he is until you see him in person. Back in August Artest showed up at Venice (no body guards, no entourage) to play hoops. You know at Venice beach there’s some giant MuthaF#&kers at those courts... they looked like midgets next to Artest! If you ever blessed to meet this dude… he’s the real deal! Very approachable and down to earth! Just don’t mistake his kindness for weakness…

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » June 29th, 2010, 12:24 pm

alexalonso wrote:Artest is not a good fit with the Lakers. I think he is going to be a divider once they get in a slump and go on a loosing streak. There will be alot of finger pointing and disension among the team. When he starts heaving those 3 pointers that go no where, Kobe is gonna get pissed. They already had the pieces and getting a better player (Artest) does not always mean that the team will be better.

Ariza was getting better each season. we'll see.

Hate to say it... but i told you so, AND- Beating the Celtics was much more impressive than beating the 09' Magic.

jdm894g wrote:As a Celtic fan, im happy the FAKERS got Artest. He jacks up a lot of shots that are not in the offensive flow. Go ahead artest, shoot them out of games.

As a Celtic fan, you should be pissed. They lost with Ron Artest jacking up shots. lol

353 wrote:Yep,Artest bout to get that ring! LAKESHOW!

Fo sho!!

YouTube · Unread post by **alexalonso** » July 12th, 2010, 11:06 pm

AllhoodPublications wrote:
alexalonso wrote:Artest is not a good fit with the Lakers. I think he is going to be a divider once they get in a slump and go on a loosing streak. There will be alot of finger pointing and disension among the team. When he starts heaving those 3 pointers that go no where, Kobe is gonna get pissed. They already had the pieces and getting a better player (Artest) does not always mean that the team will be better.

Ariza was getting better each season. we'll see.
Hate to say it... but i told you so, AND- Beating the Celtics was much more impressive than beating the 09' Magic.

jdm894g wrote:As a Celtic fan, im happy the FAKERS got Artest. He jacks up a lot of shots that are not in the offensive flow. Go ahead artest, shoot them out of games.
As a Celtic fan, you should be pissed. They lost with Ron Artest jacking up shots. lol

353 wrote:Yep,Artest bout to get that ring! LAKESHOW!
Fo sho!!

Artest has a sorry performance during the playoffs, statistically he was terrible across the board, and even Phil Jackson said I was going to bench him, but he did have some key plays during important moments during game 7, but overall he did improve the Lakers. The won 57 games this season with him, and last year they won 65, and in the playoffs, they went 16-7 in 2010. How did they do in 2009? At least Artest didnt bring a bad attitude to the team. He did well there, but I am not convinced he made the team better. They won a championship with him and with out him.

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 13th, 2010, 1:25 am

^I agree with most of that. However, the same could be said about Ariza- they won with him, and they won without him. Kobe played an entire season with broken finger(s) could be why they lost a few more games than they did the year before. Also the 09' Magic was not as good as the 10' Celtics in the post season in my honest opinion. It is a known fact that it is harder to repeat as Champions than it is to win a single championship.They won the first with Ariza, the toughest came with Artest.

The thing about Artest is he is a defensive player, and thats what he did, he played defense. He held Paul Pierce in check when it counted. If you want an unbiased account in comparing the two, just look at their stats in the Finals. They are almost identical in each category.

Ariza 6 rebounds, 11 ppg, .357 % shooting percentage 30 rebounds 9 steals 1 block.
Artest 4.6 rebounds, 10.6 ppg, .361% shooting percentage 9 steals 6 blocks. (Against a much tougher defense), Turnovers and Fouls- average out equally.

It was, and still is obvious "to me" you don't lose much other than age. Here you have one man that accepted less money, and another that wanted more money. No brainer there. Experience over loyalty for nearly the same player. Only real difference is Ariza cheats for steals, Artest plays his man straight up. Artest gets physical on defense, Ariza probaly more aggressive on offense although they scored nearly the exact same (.4ppg difference.)

Ariza didn't bring the intimidation that Artest did.. he was pushing Pierce and Garnett around even though Rondo pushed him- LOL. Ariza was quiet, trying to focus on helping Kobe. So again, my conclusion is one not much better than the other- with Artest being more physical and hungrier, Ariza being younger and made a bad career move.

Unread post by **mvwi1** » July 14th, 2010, 11:13 am

Yep, I was suprised when Ariza left. As for Artest, I'm happy for dude - getting that ring.

YouTube · Unread post by **alexalonso** » July 15th, 2010, 8:49 pm

AllhoodPublications wrote:^I agree with most of that. However, the same could be said about Ariza- they won with him, and they won without him. Kobe played an entire season with broken finger(s) could be why they lost a few more games than they did the year before. Also the 09' Magic was not as good as the 10' Celtics in the post season in my honest opinion. It is a known fact that it is harder to repeat as Champions than it is to win a single championship.They won the first with Ariza, the toughest came with Artest.

The thing about Artest is he is a defensive player, and thats what he did, he played defense. He held Paul Pierce in check when it counted. If you want an unbiased account in comparing the two, just look at their stats in the Finals. They are almost identical in each category.

Ariza 6 rebounds, 11 ppg, .357 % shooting percentage 30 rebounds 9 steals 1 block.
Artest 4.6 rebounds, 10.6 ppg, .361% shooting percentage 9 steals 6 blocks. (Against a much tougher defense), Turnovers and Fouls- average out equally.

It was, and still is obvious "to me" you don't lose much other than age. Here you have one man that accepted less money, and another that wanted more money. No brainer there. Experience over loyalty for nearly the same player. Only real difference is Ariza cheats for steals, Artest plays his man straight up. Artest gets physical on defense, Ariza probaly more aggressive on offense although they scored nearly the exact same (.4ppg difference.)

Ariza didn't bring the intimidation that Artest did.. he was pushing Pierce and Garnett around even though Rondo pushed him- LOL. Ariza was quiet, trying to focus on helping Kobe. So again, my conclusion is one not much better than the other- with Artest being more physical and hungrier, Ariza being younger and made a bad career move.

tough one to call, Ariza became a starter so that might have had to do with why he left, loyaty, not sure. The Lakers would have been a great team with Ariza as a starter, and he had his best statistically offensive year with Houston. I didnt think Artest was a good addition not because of talent, but I thought he was going to disrupt the chemistry on the team, and he apparently did not do that at all. Seemed to be on his best behavior most of the time. So I was wrong about that for sure.

Artest still exhibited some bizarre behavior, statements in interviews, the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and even after the won game seven, said some strange things in interviews, thanking his shrink, but I bet Phil Jackson be sitting on the edge of his seat wondering if he is going to implode.

Also they both made 6.3 million dollar last year so the money is equal.

Watchout for Miami

Unread post by **AllhoodPublications** » July 15th, 2010, 11:55 pm

^Yes.... Ariza will have good numbers now because he is the go to man on Houston.. He doesn't have to play within the triangle or worry about Kobe anymore... Yes @ Miami... they are going to be tough and exciting but I "personally" don't think they will win the East... they couldn't win the olympics without Kobe Bryant so I don't think they will win the NBA Championship without him either. They Lakers will probaly be looking to trade up before next years Finals.. all they have to do to beat Miami is put a defensive tea together, but they may not have to worry about them with Boston over there to keep them in check "in the post season".

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