Lakers are seriously looking to acquire Ron Artest.

[JoMal]

The John Salmons preference was purely over willie green, if the sixers had to choose one to give a contract to, but then god told salmons to sign with the kings

Yeah, God is a Kings' fan. 

[jemagee]

If God were a kings fan the team would be located in a city that wasn't so damn hot (and ugly)

[Derek Bodner]

(low post billy LOW POST, not any post)

Actually, a high post/elbow player could work very well with Iverson, as it could open up the lanes, and Iverson actually cuts fairly well, so webb's passing could come in handy as well.  Two things failed:
1) Webber shot about 35% on his elbow jumpers.  Yeah, that's not gonna open up the lane.
2) Defense.  defense, defense, defense.

Garnett isn't always a low post player, but he would have been terrific with Iverson because he could have played in the elbow area, hit the jumper to open up the lane, handled the ball, defensive rebounding to start the break, and cover up Iverson defensively.

the fact that Webber wasn't a low post player isn't why that failed, IMO.

I do agree that the Sixers would do that trade again, solely for the cap purposes which we're now reaping the rewards of.

[jemagee]

Garnett isn't 'always' a low post player, hence he sometimes is?

I think the low post actually scared chris webber

[Derek Bodner]

Garnett isn't 'always' a low post player, hence he sometimes is?

That's not his primary offensive function, is what I mean.

I think the low post actually scared chris webber

There is the oft-cited rumor that O'brien told him during his first practice to go down and play on the low blocks, and Webber told him "coach, I don't play in the low post anymore".  I think O'brien said it one year when he was on TV during the playoffs.  Not sure what validity it has to it.

[JoMal]

If God were a kings fan the team would be located in a city that wasn't so damn hot (and ugly)

Los Angeles alreaday has two teams. How many do they need?

[jemagee]

Who said LA wasn't ugly?

San Diego, it ain't ugly, and they already don't fully support a baseball team or a football team, i think they rightly deserve a chance to not support a basketball team...of course the NBA thinks it's a good idea to move a team from seattle to oklahoma city, cause that makes a lot of fiscal sense.

PS - i think moving any professional sports team to Vegas is a horrible idea due to the transient nature of most of the people in vegas at any one time, i mean i know it has growing population but it's still pretty low ain't it?

[jemagee]

Garnett isn't 'always' a low post player, hence he sometimes is?

That's not his primary offensive function, is what I mean.

I think the low post actually scared chris webber

There is the oft-cited rumor that O'brien told him during his first practice to go down and play on the low blocks, and Webber told him "coach, I don't play in the low post anymore".  I think O'brien said it one year when he was on TV during the playoffs.  Not sure what validity it has to it.

Yeah, i've heard it, not sure where i place it in the lexicon of believable philadelphia sports legends that screwed over the respective team...since it's rumored that webber got o'brien fired.

It also lacks the believability and corroboration of the billy wagner to boston deal or the larry brown said pick larry hughes while others said draft pierce or nowitzki disasters

[JoMal]

Garnett isn't 'always' a low post player, hence he sometimes is?

I think the low post actually scared chris webber

Might be because that is how he hurt his knee. But in reality, he just could not compete in the low post like he did in Sacramento prior to getting hurt. Somehow, people equated Chris' soft hands as his game being soft. That was not the case. Garnett and Webber would pound each other during games and Duncan was pretty much inaffective playing Webber down low.

[westkoast]

Lamar Odom is a 3rd banana and you really can't start a front court of Odom, Gasol and Andrew Bynum....Odom isn't as good defensively at the 3 spot as ron artest, and for someone who care so mcuh about the concept of 'playing hard' - odom vanishes at many inopportune times seemingly including during the playoffs.

odom is disposable with the return of bynum and the lakers need a defensive upgrade at the 3.

I wouldn't make a personel change and ruin good team chemistry for a guy who plays hard on offense...when he's not really that good at it.  His defense is great and would be a plus but it's not greater then what you subtract by removing Odom and what he brings chemistry wise.  Plus of course the way he likes to score would cause a problem much like it has in Kings according to JoMal.

[jemagee]

I'm not going to get into it with you over team chemistry, because i think people over value it and i think you overstate the positive impact of an odom or the negative impact of an artest...and the long rumored 'mystical' powers of phil jackson are being ignored as well.

This laker team had 'no chemistry' before the season started, kobe hated everyone he wanted andrew bynum traded for broken down jason kidd and he hated the Gm....that seemed to work out ok...these are professionals who know their jobs and I think people forget that Lamar Odom is really no more than a third banana which is one of the reasons the lakers really had to get gasol anyway, to take pressure off odom (which he couldn't handle in 'crunch time')

[westkoast]

I'm not going to get into it with you over team chemistry, because i think people over value it and i think you overstate the positive impact of an odom or the negative impact of an artest...and the long rumored 'mystical' powers of phil jackson are being ignored as well.

That's fine we can agree to disagree on team chemistry.  I just think good team chemistry is what makes a team go from good to great.  I think if Boston had poor team chemistry they still wouldn't have won the finals.  Much like the Lakers fell to teams that played better together as a squad even though they had more talent (ie Pistons vs Lakers)  Lamar Odom is one of the most well liked players on the team outside of Derek Fisher.  That is a fact and removing friends off teams does not help chemistry.  Neither does adding a guy who is a known head case.  Just my two sense.

This laker team had 'no chemistry' before the season started, kobe hated everyone he wanted andrew bynum traded for broken down jason kidd and he hated the Gm....that seemed to work out ok...these are professionals who know their jobs and I think people forget that Lamar Odom is really no more than a third banana which is one of the reasons the lakers really had to get gasol anyway, to take pressure off odom (which he couldn't handle in 'crunch time')

Are you doing a psych evalution?  He didn't hate everyone.  He was frustrated that the team did not have the players in place to win.  Nowhere did he ever say he hated anyone.  Ronnie, Odom, and Sasha got closer over the summer so I think that sort of tosses your assumption out the window.

Odom is a 3rd banana....but so would Ron Artest behind Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.  I'd go as far to say he would be 4th banana behind Andrew Bynum.  The difference here is Ron Artest is not use to being that far down the totem pole.  Lamar Odom is.  Yet another reason not to trade for him.

When did Ron Artest become a clutch basketball player?

[jemagee]

Around the same time you started implying the importance of lamar odom to an nba championship team that's going to have kobe, pau gasol and andrew bynum but needs a defensive upgrade at the three

[westkoast]

Around the same time you started implying the importance of lamar odom to an nba championship team that's going to have kobe, pau gasol and andrew bynum but needs a defensive upgrade at the three

They are already championship caliber.  They just lost to a better team.  I see no reason to switch out one of the three top players on a squad that just ran through the Western Conference for a gamble.  That is something you do when you are hoping to get out of the first round.  Not something you do because you hit one of those most stacked teams the league has seen in a while.

Aside from chemistry you are adding a good perimeter defender but losing a good rebounder/great passer.  The Lakers have been pretty bad on the glass in the last half of the year and subtracting their top rebounder for Artest is only going to make that worse.  On top of that a lot of Laker success came from interior passing and Odom pushing the ball.  Artest does not have the same vision or passing ability as Odom.  Really the ball movement, when it is at its height, makes the Lakers dangerous.  Not Ron Artest playing a few notches above a healthy Trevor Ariza...

[JoMal]

Lamar Odom is a 3rd banana and you really can't start a front court of Odom, Gasol and Andrew Bynum....Odom isn't as good defensively at the 3 spot as ron artest, and for someone who care so mcuh about the concept of 'playing hard' - odom vanishes at many inopportune times seemingly including during the playoffs.

odom is disposable with the return of bynum and the lakers need a defensive upgrade at the 3.

I wouldn't make a personel change and ruin good team chemistry for a guy who plays hard on offense...when he's not really that good at it.  His defense is great and would be a plus but it's not greater then what you subtract by removing Odom and what he brings chemistry wise.  Plus of course the way he likes to score would cause a problem much like it has in Kings according to JoMal.

In all honesty, westkoast, how on earth would Kobe and Artest work together on the court? Ron has a psychotic sized ego problem, while Kobe just needs to be the #1 guy, period.

Ron works best, for his way of thinking, at least, with the ball in his hands on offense. Defensively, I see little problem, and Phil likes an enforcer on his squad and nobody quite fits the bill in that regard like a nutcase such as Artest. He would get away with much of it as well, playing in LA. However, his defense from what I have observed is clean.

But Ron has what you might politely call A.D.D. <in MY day, we used to just say so and so was stupid - those were the days> Ron loses focus at times. Small games do not interest him. Put him in a showboat game and he will be all over the court. He still has games he misses for "personal" reasons. He only played 56 games combined the year he was traded from Indiana; 70 games the next year, and only 57 this past year.  Need I add the season prior to that he played all of 7 games? What he gets paid under his current contract would be fair market value, except it would still be too much for the number of games he has missed.