Maggette for Artest trade ... a done deal?

[JoMal]

Almost forgot. The theme of this thread is about an Artest for Maggette trade. It is starting to appear, at least regarding Sacramento, that this trade is not likely to happen. It never did make sense to make a straight up trade for these two, since Maggette is not as good as Artest in many ways.

The thought from the national media is that Artest has asked to be traded and does not like Sacramento.
But Geoff Petrie certainly sounded like Artest was not going anywhere when interviewed about it before last nights' game:

Evasive Petrie downplays talk of Artest trade

He won't talk about deal speculation but says the forward's outlook is fine.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer

Despite a report claiming the Kings could be days from trading Ron Artest to the Los Angeles Clippers for Corey Maggette, all indications are that the deal will not go down.

And while Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie would not discuss the potential trade for Maggette that was reported in the Los Angeles Times, he did speak of Artest as if he weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

"His happiness level is fine," Petrie said before the Kings faced Philadelphia on Wednesday night at Arco Arena. "He has a very large performance bank account. A lot of people have forgotten what it was like around here before he got here.

 "I guess you could sum (the trade talk) up this way. It's a lot of noise, mostly white noise, like when a hen oodles -- wow, lays an egg -- and it makes a sound like it made a meteor."

The Artest situation has continued to escalate as the Kings have continued to slump. His happiness level has come into serious question, not only for the present but the larger question of whether he wants to be in Sacramento at all.

Asked about Artest's locker room impact and any potential influence on teammates, Petrie said: "He has some esoteric qualities. A lot of people do."

As for whether Artest has approached management with a desire to be traded, Petrie would only say, "That's a hypothetical question that you're going to have to save."

[Reality]

Tell me I'm not reading about his "happiness level".

[jn]

  That's some strange language coming out of Petrie's mouth.   The whole chicken things make him sound like an LSD eating hillbilly.  "Esoteric qualities"?  Is he saying Artest has some secret basketball knowledge known only to a select few?

Anyway I can't imagine Sac trading him for Maggette.  Artest is clearly the better player so unless there has been some insane Artest shenanigans we don't know about I can't see it happening. Petrie is much smarter than that.   I guess the question is really whether the Bibby situation mentioned by JoMal can be resolved. 

[westkoast]

That's some strange language coming out of Petrie's mouth.   The whole chicken things make him sound like an LSD eating hillbilly.  "Esoteric qualities"?  Is he saying Artest has some secret basketball knowledge known only to a select few?

Anyway I can't imagine Sac trading him for Maggette.  Artest is clearly the better player so unless there has been some insane Artest shenanigans we don't know about I can't see it happening. Petrie is much smarter than that.   I guess the question is really whether the Bibby situation mentioned by JoMal can be resolved. 

Magette has some escoteric qualities I heard.

[JoMal]

You know, you just can't make up some of the language used by these guys at times. I never knew that Artest even HAD a "happiness level", or that chickens "oodled" when they lay eggs that they thought were meteorites. Do chickens do empirical examinations comparing their eggs to meteors?

Who amongst us exhibit the most "esoteric" qualities? I vote for Joe.

[Lurker]

I am still trying to figure out what "oodling" means.  Sounds pretty strange.

[msc]

The consensus here seems to be that an Artest for Maggette trade would not benefit the Kings as much as the Clippers.  On paper, I definitely agree.  

There's no way of knowing what has transpired behind closed doors/in the locker room, but let's not forget Artest's track record of single handedly sabotaging first 2 teams he's played on so far.  And it looks like he could be working on his 3rd now.  There hasn't been a publicly visible outburst from Artest, so maybe he's innocent in this case, but I have to think that his psychosis may very well be the major contributing factor to the lack of this team’s chemistry this season.  

After starting this thread yesterday and reading the subsequent posts, I started thinking that this is just Elgin Baylor playing to the media in this trade situation.  You can't believe everything that you read, but today's LA Times states that it was Petrie who contacted the Clips last Friday "The Kings contacted the Clippers last Friday to gauge the Clippers' interest in acquiring Artest, but as of Wednesday night had not made a formal trade proposal, Clippers sources said."  This could be media spinning from Clipper camp, but if true, it looks like Artest may have once again worn out his welcome.  See full article below.  

CLIPPERS REPORT
Team is still waiting to hear from the Kings about Artest
By Jason Reid
Times Staff Writer

December 28, 2006

The Clippers would prefer to trade Corey Maggette to the Sacramento Kings for Ron Artest, but they're not waiting by the phone.

The Kings contacted the Clippers last Friday to gauge the Clippers' interest in acquiring Artest, but as of Wednesday night had not made a formal trade proposal, Clippers sources said.

So the Clippers continued to consider potential deals with other teams involving Maggette, who is expected to be traded somewhere soon because of his poor relationship with Coach Mike Dunleavy.

Other than a potential Artest-Maggette deal, the Clippers haven't been overwhelmed with the players teams have proposed offering for Maggette, who averaged at least 20 points a game in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.

The Clippers could have acquired a first-round pick for Maggette in the last draft but weren't interested because that draft wasn't considered as strong or deep as the 2007 draft.

If the Clippers were only building for the future, they might move Maggette for some of the young players teams have supposedly made available in exchange for the seven-year veteran.

The Clippers, however, are focused on the present.

Despite their disappointing 12-16 start, the Clippers said they still expect to qualify for the Western Conference playoffs.

The Clippers want a productive veteran for Maggette, preferably an efficient long-range shooter who has a high basketball IQ. But is Maggette's trade value high enough to help the Clippers acquire a difference-maker?

Maggette was the centerpiece of the Clippers' offer for Allen Iverson, who Philadelphia traded to Denver. Maggette alone, so far, apparently isn't enough for the Clippers to get Artest from Sacramento.

The Clippers top decision-makers are in agreement that it's time to trade Maggette. What's still unclear is where he's headed.

[msc]

From that Petrie article ... it sounds like he's been taking lessons from Phil Jackson.  What a bunch of rhetorical gobley-gook that doesn't really "say" anything.  That load of BS would make Phil proud!

[westkoast]

ESPN is still running with this or at least they were earlier this morning when I went to the NBA front page on espn.com  They have a picture of those two with a link to an article about 10 players who should pack their bags....

BTW, does anyone have ESPN INsider here?  Maybe I should take one for the team and sign up then *GASP* illegally post some of the articles here?