Thanks for checking in with your thoughts on Artest. I see y’all are blowing up Alan’s blog with a big discussion of Ron-Ron becoming a Knick in like 24 hours.
1) I love the fact that you guys are reading my blog and bouncing the Artest item around. That’s how it’s supposed to work. I talk to someone you care about, I tell you what they said. That’s how it works. I get information for you.
2) A line from my days covering the Jets, from a certain silver-haired football coach with the initials BP: “Is LSD back?
Relax, people. Nothing’s going down – yet.
Still, I believe there’s a 50-50 chance that Artest winds up getting traded to the Knicks – if not this summer, then at trade deadline. It just makes too much sense. He’d be the perfect offensive/defensive combination at the 3, would go through a wall for Isiah, and as he stated Tuesday, he’d take the privilege of playing in New York very, very seriously. I think after all he’s been through, he could handle it. Sounds crazy to say about a guy who’s found the trouble he’s found over the years, but I get the impression he wants this to happen in the worst way.
Not just for basketball reasons, but for personal reasons. If you haven't seen the column I wrote in today's paper on Artest, here is is.
And maybe this is me being overly cynical, but all these glowing statements about Artest coming from Kings G.M. Geoff Petrie strike me as a guy talking up a player so he can get more back in a trade. For all his good works lately, Artest has baggage and has been a huge headache at times for the Kings. Petrie knows that Artest will be gone after next season anyway, so why not talk his value up now and try to get something for your trouble?
By the way, I think the same thing is going on with the canonization of Nate Robinson this summer.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The fact that the interview with Artest happened in New York is not an indication that a trade is imminent. In fact, when Artest and I spoke on the phone later in the day, he’d already flown back to Cali.
I also spoke with Artest’s agent, Mark Stevens, on Tuesday. This is what he said: “From what I know and understand, Ron is a King and he’s going to be a King. If anything different arrives, we’ll deal with it at that point.”
Here is what we know: Artest badly wants to play in New York, but has decided it’s not his place to request a trade. One thing he understands is loyalty, and he believes that Petrie and the Maloof brothers deserve his loyalty for sticking by him through some troubled times.
We know Isiah has two extra players on the roster and has accumulated some pieces that give him the flexibility to pull off several different types of trades. He has desirable young players to offer – Lee, Balkman, Crawford, Randolph Morris, even N8 – plus a variety of expiring contracts.
Now he waits for things to shake out – not only with Artest, but also with Kobe. Time is on his side.
Will Artest show up at training camp, look around at a collection of talent that won 32 games last season, and lose all his enthusiasm and loyalty for Sac-Town?
Will Kobe show up at training camp, period?
Either one or both could be available in the coming months. Say what you want about Isiah, but he has the right combination of talent and garbage to be at the front of the line in either scenario.
Now, back to vacation. Feel free to keep the discussion going over here and I’ll sift through your comments, answer your questions, and bring you the latest Kobe and Artest updates when I return.
Comments (19)
Thanks Ken, great update. As I mentioned on Alan's blog, just because Artest was in NYC it really doesn't mean that he was going to be traded in 24 hours. Your assessment of the situation makes great sense. There is no hurry for either the Kings or the Knicks to make a move as there are still 6 weeks or so until training camps open. Also, many GM's are still on vacation, so bidding on players is probably at a slow point. And finally, if Petrie really wants Lee in the deal, and Isiah is refusing to trade him (thankfully), then there is little to talk about. Personally, I don't think Artest will be traded until the deadline, when either the Knicks, or some contender decides they need him for a playoff push. Petrie can get more for him then. And Kobe simply will not be traded. At least not this year.
Enjoy the vacation!
Ok lets trade..dickau,crawfod, fred jone, david lee, J. Jefrries, and nate robinson, for bibby and artest..what do you think?
nice, some life on the blog ... good to see. keep it going amongst yourselves for the rest of the week and I'll be back next week to answer all your questions and weigh in on your comments.
Here's something to throw out there and let you chew on for a few days while I'm off: putting aside the knick beat writers for the local paper, what national NBA writers do you read, and why? I'm talking guys like myself, mitch lawrence, peter vescey, and non-NY-based writers like chris sheridan (espn.com), ric bucher (espn the magazine), sam smith (chicago tribune, adrian wojnarowski (yahoo! sports), etc., etc. see you next week.
Giving up Lee for Artest would be way too high a price to pay. I am not convinced that Artest offers that much more than Balkman either especially given the number of shots Marbury, Crawford, Randolph, and Curry are likely to take. Artest to the Knicks really doesn't make sense to be honest. It helps them at a position where with the combination of Balkman, Lee and Q, they are already loaded.
Hey Flint,
Balkman, Lee, Q, Jeffreys, Chandler gives us quantity at the small forward. Artest gives us a top flight small forward to compete with any small forward in the league. With all those guys I just named, we should be able to have great depth at that position with Artest in the starting line up. Trade 2 of them to get Artest and we will be watching the Knicks in the Playoff......all the way to the nba finals.
Ken
in terms of who else I read, I read all things knicks. In google, you can search for news, and I type in the key word knicks and usually read anything that looks interesting from there. I read the blogs, the espn / foxsports / hoopshypes websites, and the ny local stuff.
Thats a Good TRADE RON ARTEST for DICKAU, JEFFRIES, ROBINSON and 1st ROund PICK 2008 ....GO ARTEST GO GO NYK RULEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
To me tradein for Artest is worth it,cuz if he becomes to much of a bother he is a free agent at the end of this year so,its not really a all or nothing type situation,but if its worth giving up ur second best rebounder and a youngster with tramendous up side,well then you'll have to carefully think out the situation, if i was the Knicks i would do the trade, but i would wait untill into the season or close to the deadline. I think all east teams should look into Artest, cuz i beleave he is the one player that can physically bang with LeBron James at the Small Forward position, LeBron is about 6'8-250,Artest is 6'7-240. I think havein Artest is good insurance for an eastern team.I think if they do go ahead with the Artest deal they should make some other changes on the bench,cuz their gonna need players who dont need the ball to be effective. I think they should keep Malik Rose (good locker room guy) and waive James.Then Trade Nate and who ever for Eric Snow,he is a pass first PG,who doesnt ask for atempts plus he iz a gread locker room guy to complement Artest.I think they could get Reggie Evans from Denver, becouse denver is lookin to make cap space or of not try to get Kenny Thomas into the Artest deal as well,but his contract is 4 yrs witch i dont think the Knicks want to deal with.So if they get these players their team would look somthin like this:
PG:S.Marbury/E.Snow
SG:R.Balkman/F.Jones
SF:R.Artest/Q.Richardson
PF:Z.Randolph/R.Evans
C:E.Curry/M.Rose
Ken:
In answer to your question, I enjoy Charley Rosen, Vecsey, and yourself. D'Alessandro has a great NBA column in the Sunday Star Ledger (I live in Jersey).
Rosen is probably the best as far as breaking down the complexities of the game as he was a player and coach. He does have his biases though.
The Knicks are screwed at the moment with both Zach and Curry pretty much playing the same position. One of their games is going to have to suffer.
As for Artest- as said earlier I'd make the trade but wait until the deadline. Trade either Lee or crawford and if you could get rid of Jerome James then even better. If the Knicks get Artest then they make the playoffs and lose in the first round.
Just a note. West Coast players who came originally from the NYC area may not want their wives to meet their old girlfriends. I don't think RonRon is in any hurray to move back.
Artest, maybe.
Kobe, never. Nicks don't have anything the Lakers want...
MAN!!! some of u guys know absolutely noithin about hoopz...unless you watch every single knicks game and a tru basketball head (like myself)who are you guys to say how the chmemistry of my team(NY) wont work?If i recall the twin towers(tim and david) won championships and did well...... do your research 1st then open ya mouth..
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