Geoff Petrie has all but sealed the deal on a Ron Artest trade. The ever-reticent GM for the Kings has flat out stated that Ron-Ron's fit with the Kings is not going to continue.
Artest will opt out of his contract this summer regardless. So Petrie is going to get what he can for him right now. That will be draft picks and young, developing talent; and possibly expiring contracts. He <could> wait until the season is over and try to do a sign and trade, but Artest has nixed that idea, because he announced he will be signing only with a team that has promise of going to the NBA championship.
So who out there would like to rent Ron Artest for the balance of this season to make a strong playoff run? The best bet might be the Denver Nuggets, who could offer Linas Kleiza and Eduardo Najera in return.
Kleiza is a bargain at just over 1 mil a year and has two years left on his contract. His play this season has definitely picked up as well. Najera's just shy of 5 million (this season) contract expires at the end of 2008. A draft pick or two would finish the deal. BTW, Artest is earning 7.8 million this season.
On a side note, Isiah Thomas of the Knicks is still interested in getting a point guard and has Mike Bibby on his short list. Unless he is willing to part with David Lee, Petrie probably would not be interested in taking over one of the other outragious contracts that Thomas has to offer for the Kings' point guard.