Wow what a day. Just yesterday, I thought that Ariza and his agent were buttering up other teams in an effort to have the Lakers overpay him.Nah-uh. The Lakers and Rockets have essentially traded small forwards. Ron Artest is coming to the Lakers. Trevor Ariza is going to the Rockets.
Artest will be paid $18 million over three years. Ariza receives a 5-year deal worth $33 million.
The Lakers are receiving the better player, but not the younger one. Artest will be 30 in November, while Ariza just turned 24.
Offensively, the two aren't even close. Artest has had a very good NBA career and is coming off a year where he averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. He also shot 40% from three, and is a very good wide-open shooter, unlike Mr. Vujacic.
Ariza only shot 31% from three, but did have quite a post-season, as he lit it up at an 48% clip.
Ron Artest can spin circles around Trevor Ariza offensively. He can do multiple things that Ariza can't, such as breaking an opponent off the dribble, and creating his own shot. The problem is that sometimes Artest is his own worst enemy. Instead of facilitating and initiating the offense, he can become a black hole. At times, he will run down the shot clock and force a horrendous shot.
I don't see that happening with this core group though. Artest would often do that when he was the best player on the court on some real bad teams, like he was in Sacramento. This year, he can even be the fourth option to Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and even Andrew Bynum.
The Lakers really only need him to play staunch defense, and hit the open three. Everything else is gravy. We'll see how quickly he can pick up the triangle offense though.
Ron Artest's talent on the basketball court has never been questioned. It's the off the court stuff that has been the real issue.
Five years ago, "The Malice at the Palace," took place when Ron-Ron got into it with the paying customers in Detroit...
He was suspended for nearly the entire season, but he's cleaned up his act. He was a model citizen last year. I believe that the old Ron Artest is dead and buried.
As far as defense is concerned...He's still a good defender, but he's lost a step. Is he a better defender then Trevor Ariza? Well, that remains to be seen over the long haul, but Artest did make the All-NBA defensive second team this past season, and has a reputation in the league as being one of the toughest players around.
Trevor Ariza on the other hand feels that he didn't get any love from L.A. He felt unwanted and was disrespected that the Lakers never even presented him an offer, and would not pay him more than the mid-level exception.
The Lakers brass liked Ariza, but they just love Ron Artest. They've been flirting with the volatile forward for years now. Kobe begged the Lakers to trade for him years ago when the Lakers were a .500 team, and he's always loved Los Angeles. It was inevitable that the stars would align one day to allow him to stroll the red carpet onto the Staples Center parquet court.
Yes, the things Trevor Ariza did for the Lakers were invaluable, but they can be duplicated by a better player in Ron Artest.
I also find it hilarious that apparently Mitch Kupchak had nothing to do with getting Artest, this according to Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
"The courtship of Artest began with a phone call from Magic Johnson, continued over the phone with Jackson (Phil) and ended during a seal-the-deal lunch Thursday with Lakers owner Jerry Buss."
Now the real drama unfolds...will the Lakers have enough money to sign Artest's New York homeboy Lamar Odom? The Candy Man has said numerous times this year that he would take less money to stay. Odom must be feeling great that his boy just got signed by the Lakers, so I imagine the two will come together in a nice purple and gold package, just like Gary Payton and Karl Malone did in 2004.
If the Lakers bring back Lamar Odom, and to a lesser extent Shannon Brown, they will have definitely upgraded their chances to repeat.
Peace!
6 comments:
Artest will help the Lakers if he can get along with others and keep his mouth shut.He could be a virus on a team that had so much chemistry last season.I feel bad for Ariza.His agent messed up the deal for him.I think Ariza was the key player in the championship and dosen't deserve this.He gained confidence in his three point shooting in the playoffs and would've carried that over to the next season.He is an excellent defender and is a team player.We don't know what we are getting with Artest.I agree they must sign the candy man to make their chances of repeating much better.
I really don't think Artest will be a problem within the team George. I think the problem with him is that he might get into trouble off the court. After all, he's now living in Los Angeles, and he might be playing with his childhood friend Lamar Odom. Hopefully these guys keep their partying to a minimum, but the one person who can corral these long term buddies is Phil Jackson. He's dealt with Rodman, and he this should be like Disneyland compared to that!
As for Ariza, I don't feel bad for a player who leaves a championship caliber team. After all, he will sign with the Rockets for the same amount of money the Lakers would've given him on a much worse team. We'll probably never hear from him again. He has a lot of GAR-BAGE time ahead of him.
I am one of the many people who think that this deal was a phenomenal deal indeed. I love everything about it, I am very excited to see the captivating Ron Artest in the line up along with Fisher, Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum... Mmmmm that just smells like a dynasty in the making. Dont get me wrong I absolutely loved Ariza but I think I loved this move by the Lakers a weee bit more. No doubt, time will tell whether this was a great or horrible deal, but since the future isnt here yet... this deal looks quite promising.
While I am very pleased with the trade on the Lakers end of it, I truly feel for Trevor Ariza. Without him this past season I doubt the championship run would have ended in similar fashion. He was a key component in our ability to score and play decent defense. Because Artest is his replacement his presence won't be entirely missed. On the other side of the coin it cannot be to good a feeling if your Ariza. He is on a team that lacks the talent to go far into the post-season. McGrady is only getting older and his back only getting worse. As far Yao, there are talks he won't be able to play much longer because of his foot injuries. Battier will always be a solid player but he cannot win a playoff series alone. I'm looking for Ariza's name disappear as the Rockets will be no where near the top 5 West teams.
I feel bad for what happened to Ariza but his agent is the one that let that happen to him. I believe that Artest is an upgrade and as long as he understands that it is Kobe's team then there should not be any problems. Ince Lamar gets resigned, I beleive that there will be at least two more championships to come!
Ariza's name won't disappear completely Baj. He just won't see his name lit up in the bright lights of Hollywood. The Rockets added another scrappy player. They'll always play hard and make a game out of it, as they showed the Lakers in seven games.
We're all waiting for that Lamar shoe to drop Jamilio, hopefully soon! Ariza's agent let him down, but we don't clearly know what Ariza's role was. The blame should go to his agent more than Ariza though. If you guys want more information regarding the Ariza fallout, copy and paste this link: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=13174
Post a Comment