Ron Artest to the Lakers, says Ron Artest
UPDATE (5:00 pm)- ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reports the deal would be worth "an estimated $18 million" over three years, which is a perfect length from LA's standpoint. Artest will be 30 in November. BK
UPDATE (4:37 pm)- The LAT's Mike Bresnahan is also reporting the Lakers are close to a deal to bring in Artest. He writes that Artest would likely want a full midlevel deal (in the neighborhood of $32 mil over five years), but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the contract, once signed, was actually shorter than that. We'll have to wait and see. As Bres notes, Artest's arrival would almost certainly mean the end of Trevor Ariza's tenure in LA. BK
CBS Sports.com's Ken Berger reports Ron Artest is ready to sign with the Lakers. (Note: Berger's original post has been updated with fresh information. The Lakers are not commenting, but Berger writes he has additional corroboration.) No contract terms have been ironed out, Berger writes, but Artest told him he'll be playing in purple and next season:
Artest said he met with Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss Thursday and previously had spoken with Lakers coach Phil Jackson. He was en route to his financial manager's office, where he planned to huddle on the phone with his agent, David Bauman, to finalize details...
..."I don't really care about the money," Artest said. "I'll play there for nothing. ... L.A. was very interested in me, and they got me."
Until there's more concrete news, it's hard to say with certainty what's going on. (If there's such a thing as a player being a bad source regarding his own negotiations, it would likely apply to Artest.) If nothing else, Bauman can't like that whole "play there for nothing" part. The man works on commission. As we talked about in this week's 710 ESPN Lakers PodKast (which also includes a nice interview with Shannon Brown- listen and you'll know that if Brown leaves for another city, it's not because Andy and I didn't try to keep him here), I have some concerns about how Artest fits with the Lakers.
Still, he's an undeniable talent, no question, and in terms of raw ability would add a lot to the squad. Plus, it's always more fun to rub a star player's head as a teammate rather than foe.
More on this to come, I'm sure.
BK
(Photo: Stephen Dunn, Getty Images)
I can already see Kobe and Odum holding back Artest next year. ITS GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL!
Posted by: Laker Justice | July 03, 2009 at 01:18 AM
We gonna love Ron, just check these videos! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24kx5ynRVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBx8LSwqRpE&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZtxQkay0ac&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pypXIRnBr1g
Posted by: Arturs | July 03, 2009 at 02:13 AM
AGAIN ALL YOU PEOPLE SAYING THAT THIS WAS A BAD MOVE MUST BE SMOKING THE CRACK THAT DAVID FALK IS PUTTING IN YOUR PIPE. RON ARTEST IS BETTER THE TREVOR ARIZA PERIOD. THATS NO PUT DOWN TO ARIZA BECAUSE HE IS A HECK OF A PLAYER BUT ARTEST BRINGS MORE TO THE TABLE. THIS IS A GUY WE HAVE ACUTUALLY COVETED FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND TO GET HIM TO JUST TO FALL IN OUR LAP IS QUITE A COUP. WE OBTAINED TA FOR BC AND MO.. AND NOW WE RETAIN RON RON'S SERVICE, A DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND PROVEN GUTS GUY. THE MAN DOES NOT BACK DOWN FROM ANYBODY MUCH LIKE MR. 81. PLEZE ALL YOU TA ENTUHUISTS NEED TO STEP BACK FOR A MINUTE AND REALIZE WHAT TA REALLY IS... A ROLE PLAYER WHO NO ONE WANTED UNTIL THE LAKERS DEVELOPED HIM UNDER KB'S GUIDANCE. RON RON IS PROVER TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND IS GOING GO GO BALLS OUT WHETHER HE IS PLAYING FOR A CONTRACT AND MORE IMPORTANTLY IF HE IS NOT. SURE TA HAD A GOOD YEAR AND SEEMS TO BE A WINGMAN ON THE RISE BUT THIS KIDS HAD PROBLEMS WITH HIS FEET FOR YEARS AND WE WERE LUCKY TO HAVE HIM HEALTYH ALL YEAR. RON RON IS BUILT LIKE A SUBHUMAN BEAST AND HAS THE MINDSET OF A MALI WARRIOR. TA I'M GONNA MISS YOU KID, I HOPE YOU PROSPER IN H TOWN, BUT RON RON ADDS A WHOLE NEW DEMENSION TO THIS BALL CLUB IF WE RESIGHN MR. ODOM. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT IF EVERYONE STAYS HEALTHY WE HAVE A REALISTIC SHOT TO WIN 73 GAMES NEXT SEASON.
Posted by: WINSTON WALLACE | July 03, 2009 at 02:15 AM
Ariza was wanting too much for "potential" with a dash of "done that"....where is the respect and gratefulness for trading for him and rehabbing him and risking rocking the whole boat by starting him over LO, he or his agent was asking for LO type money but he hasn't put in the years to earn it, looks like Mitch has stopped giving donations (Walton, Sasha, maybe Bynum).....Houston will be nasty, he'll probably put his own foot into a vise so that he doesn't have to play. Personally, I do think he was a good player for the Lakers but wanted his payday too soon. Artest made a sacrifice to come to play for a championship. No more sacrifices need to be made, pay LO and Shannon what would be appropriate, and yes Edwin Gueco, Sun Yue is someone that should be tossed aside. He is young, and with age and experience he could be one of the most interesting players in the league. I said "could be", I did not say "will be", so you guys who want to dump the (remember to omit the nationality....kinda unneeded, do we refer to any other players by always preceding with nationality, or race....I think not" He's still a cheaply paid player and believe me, he won't pull a "Trevor" after a few good games....Someone find Rodman and hire him for some tutor sessions/therapy for Ron....or they could both go to therapy and maybe get a group discount...I can't wait till KB uses one of Ron's screens to flatten somebody, and please let it be Jesus Shuttlesworth, aka "I don't lift weights" Ray Allen...I still say go for Mike Miller using Sasha, and Morrison, .... salaries should match and he's played with Pau... he had an off season last year, but then so did the 2 Lakers, Miller has had numerous good years...Sasha had 3/4 of one good year....and with Morrison...expiring contract, not sure how many years Miller has left on his contract, lost track of him when he got traded....I think KB and him get along....but that's it, then get back into the develop through the draft, if they have any draft picks left in the next 3 years....
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | July 03, 2009 at 02:25 AM
remember all when ron said that barkeley was overrated?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pypXIRnBr1g&NR=1
if barkeley fumigated after the lakers won the championship, tonight he is having nightmares thinking/hating the lakers, kobe ron vs. his love of King and shak
No ring for the King with artest out west
Posted by: ouchhhhhhhhh | July 03, 2009 at 02:42 AM
Finally read the whole thing.
Crazy, crazy, crazy development.
I'll miss Trevor, but this trade/signing almost certainly makes us a better team.
I wanted Artest for years (but still had trepidation about it), but getting him and only giving up Trevor is very sweet indeed.
Best post was the one to KL beast of course.
Oh, the sweet, sweet taste of revenge.
AK/BK, congrats on never ever again having to do a filler blog post. The posts this year are going to write themselves....
Posted by: Benjamin | July 03, 2009 at 03:55 AM
For all of you guys worrying about Ron Ron not understanding his role and shooting us out of games, i.e., being a coach's nightmare, remember how much Adelman loved him. PJ has spoken with him and is clearly satisfied with his mind-set.
Ron is definitely an upgrade over Artest. I think this move serves as a message to that jerk David Lee that we are not a team to try to toy with by bad-mouthing us in the media. You got lucky with Bynum. We put you on a short leash with TA. You have been served notice. Now other players will avoid you, dumb-ass.
Now resigning SB is paramount. He will give us the speed, athleticism and finishing ability we need on fastbreaks to complement Kobe.
Look out NBA...the Reign of Terror is in full force!
Posted by: Laker Kev | July 03, 2009 at 06:58 AM
Next move today will be the talk with Shannon Brown's agent. Word of advice to Shannon -Tell your agent not to imitate liar Lee. Don't blow up this opportunity, these are the best times to be a Laker. Take 2.5M escalating for three years and be ambitious later once Farmar is gone or Fisher retires. By July 4th, LO will realize there will be no takers for 10M asking price, he will settle for 8M. Hey LO, don't miss this opportunity of playing with Ronnie, the looney together with fellow Queens, Socks Bynum. Once those two are signed, Mitch, you can rest for a job well done. Have a nice 4th of July weekend unless JB is still not comfortable in hitting the 100M including luxury taxes. (It was reported they are now 81M + 10.5M LO and SB + 0.7 SY = 92.2M. If you add the luxury taxes back @ 75M cut-off 92.2M + 17.2M = 109.4. Well, dump one 5 million contract on the 2nd tier brings Lakers below 100M mark. Besides, why should Lakers need unproductive 5M bench warmers or redundant players? They still have a 6'8 draft pick too.
Ah, one more wish list, LAT should trade these "girlish" & freaking columnists T J Simers and Bill Plaschke. Retain the flip flopper Mark Heisler. Get Kevin Ding of Register and promote Broderick Turner as a regular columnist and retain regular reporter Bresnahan. It is hard to read a column coming from people who never played basketball but a bunch of intriguers and copycats on opinions from the blog. How about our broadcasters? jeanie, don't we have a young dude from our local universities who could emulate the talent of great Chickie baby? Joel Myers is an old recycled fair weather guy like Bill Plaschke on the tube, we need a new wave of columnists and broadcasters. Also on K-710, get Vic-da-brick, the bamboo maniaco. He's creative, energetic and passionate. and also an Ivy Leaguer. Add more substance, more passion, more creativity to pale talk show hosts on K-710, most of the guys manning the microphones are boring, lazy kept on repeating discussions and gimmicks just to kill time. Well, don't ever make the mistake of hiring those egomaniacs PMS hosts Manny and El Greco, a bunch of pretenders with empty knowledge.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 03, 2009 at 07:12 AM
don't get me wrong i loves the lakers, but this is just unfair for the rest of the league
Posted by: dude | July 03, 2009 at 11:19 AM