http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs...es/013976.html


Detroit: Could this be why Artest was so interested in interviewing brawl instigator John Green a while back? It would be a brilliant PR move if the Pistons were looking to put a package together for Artest.

And from what I was told from one source close to the Pistons, they are. I've yet to get this info from more than one person, so stay tuned. But much like the Mavs' situation, this could be one of those where the player the Kings want (perhaps Tayshaun Prince) would be different than the one offered (Jason Maxiell, anyone?). Pure speculation on my part in terms of the potential pieces.

oh god no. great player but complete head case. i can't imagine us opening this can of worms. besides- he might decide tomorrow that he wants to retire to be a rapper again. i don't question his talent- i only question his motivation and desire from year to year.

i think this is BS though.

He has a source, which automatically makes him more credible than the last 50 rumors on this site.

The only silver linings here:

1. He's on the last year of his deal

2. He's usually good for one year in a new environment before imploding

3. He's made a career out of humiliating Paul Pierce and turning him into a scared little bitch.

I like the idea of trying it out, but I'd feel more comfortable bringing him in at the deadline. Theres less time for him to fuck everything up if he isn't here so long.

I'm not buying him having a legit source in Detroit, maybe he meant Sactown..

I think this was already one of many talks Joe was making that all haven't gone anywhere YET. Much like McGrady.


While I don't hold grudge with Artest, can't say I'd give up any starters for a bipolar player(which i personally think he is). Too much risk for that. I think he'd be a great option off the bench though. I just don't like how he responds in heated physical games after awhile, especially playoff series. I'd possibly squeeze a pick for him and a role player or two. But I'd be worried if we gave up anybody starting for him.

I don't buy that Joe would do this, not at all.

Put me in the "I don't want it to happen" group, too.

Michael Curry would love his defensive ability. But then again, Tay is a great defender as well.

We wouldn't trade Tay for a one year rental, let alone Artest.

I don't see the pistons having a strong enough leader to handle a nutcase. You can have a Rodman in the locker room if you also have an Isiah or a Jordan.

We wouldn't trade Tay for a one year rental, let alone Artest.
man the tay bashing is going haywire, count me out of "we" on all negative tay posts.

We wouldn't trade Tay for a one year rental
That's a good point I didnt think of.

For that reason, it's simply not worth it.

We wouldn't trade Tay for a one year rental, let alone Artest.


I'd trade Maxiell in a heartbeat, though.

man the tay bashing is going haywire, count me out of "we" on all negative tay posts.
nevermind this post, was too tired to read your post str8.

IMO the Kings are better off with him because he doesn't have alot of value based on his psycho risk, yet he's still very very talented. .

tay is from compton too...so but yeah, i dont really think artest is worth it.

hes a better rebounder and stealer, but hes just got too many off the court issues.

rip/artest/sheed= tech fest

Even if there is a source, there is 0% chance of this happening, unless Joe D has lost his mind.

Chauncey is our legit leader. Everyone listens to him and feeds off him. I'm guessing a package deal would include him for Artest. Now you have Sheed, Artest and Rip on a team, all guys with very free spirits. That's setting Curry up to fail. Joe D would be asking a first year coach to not only coach a team, but to handle two of the toughest personalities in the entire NBA. You cannot have Rasheed and Artest on the same team.

If you trade Sheed in the deal, we no longer have any developed big men, and no low post defense. And as Chris said, I doubt we trade Tay just for a one year rental. Either the "source" is terrible, or Joe has lost his mind.

If you trade Sheed in the deal, we no longer have any developed big men, and no low post defense.

HAY, I BET WE COULD GET KENNY THOMAS, TOO

if Joe D wants to do it, who are we to question?

if Joe D wants to do it, who are we to question?
[smilie=locked.gif]

POLL ADDED

Would you rather have the Pistons trade for Ron Artest or stand pat and not make any trades at all?

I'm not against trading for Ron Ron, but it's dangerous as hell. You'd need to say who the Pistons traded away, as well.

I really didn't want the debate to be "what would we give up for Artest", that would get too nitpicky and there is a subforum for that if people want to go that route.

I'm more curious if those here would rather have him or not have him.

Make the assumption that if we trade for him, that Joe would ensure that it would be a fair deal for both sides.

I'd trade Maxiell in a heartbeat, though.

I agree %100. I'm willing to take a chance on him if the price is low. Too bad we can't afford his contract without giving up a starter.

Id trade him, so long as a 'fair deal for both sides' means we rip of Sac.

The best deal we could do is Dyess for Artest, and I'd be reasonably happy with that.

Could Ron-Ron be King of the Palace?

Posted by Sam Amick
4:05 AM

As I alluded to the other day here, I was told the one and only Detroit Pistons are considering a move for Ron Artest.

The one-and-only status, of course, comes because they're the one and only team you'd think would never touch the mercurial small forward in light of the context. But if Charles Barkley can beat another living, breathing human being in a foot race (even if it was just Dick Bavetta), well then impossible can happen.

Sure enough, a second source close to the Pistons has indicated that Pistons are pondering a trade for Ron-Ron. I'm not sure of the opinions of the Pistons powers-that-be - namely team president Joe Dumars and owner Bill Davidson - but it says plenty that the chatter surrounding the mere idea is spreading around them. And Dumars, for the record, may be glad this is getting out since he is reportedly tired of fans thinking he's sitting on his hands.

The piece that gets it done here is Tayshaun Prince, and the Pistons are - according to ESPN's Chris Broussard - have already considered other moves that include their stars. A Kings source tells me they have not called Sacramento, and I wouldn't be shocked if no one else had recently either.

If we're dealing Tayshaun, there better be another quality player involved (Brad Miller?)

This won't happen. Dyess won't go there and we aren't trading Prince for a one year rental. The only way I see us in an Artest trade would be for Joe to get them to swap both wings (RIP and Prince for Artest and Martin, with something in there to sweeten the pot like a first rounder or maybe Hawes since Artest might bolt). That would make us tougher against SF's with Artest, and it would eliminate losing RIP because we couldn't pay him. Martin makes about the same money as RIP, but has many years left on his deal and wouldn't get a raise for a while.

Kevin Martin is BYC, so he can't be traded.

Tayshaun for Artest and Spencer Hawes works. it throws in the sweetener the Pistons would want in case Artest doesn't work out.

Spencer Hawes our C of the future?

In 13 mpg he had 5 points, 3 boards, half a block on 46% shooting (19% from behind the arc where he took 21 shots), 65% from the line.

Based on his shooting % and all those 3's, he's not a low post guy.

He was 19. I'd give him a pass.

I think he can operate in the low post, but his game is more face up than back to the basket. TD operates in the post but faces the basket. Clearly he's not on that level, but you can still operate in the post without backing people down.

BYC doesn't mean Martin can't be traded, it just means his salary counts a lot less. You could make it work by them adding filler (Kenny Thomas, Salmons or Mikki Moore would probably work). They'd want Thomas in there to free space to resign RIP.

Can't trade Thomas in the deal because they just signed him, I thought, or do they get some sort of grace period.

And I wasn't saying his numbers were a negative at all, just asking if you guys thought he could be that C of the future. He has the ability to play down low, but he didn't last year. The Kings are actually trying to make him more of a post player this year, if I heard correctly.

He's more a C of the future than Amir or Max (who are PF's). Even if you end up with a tandom of Samb and Hawes splitting the C minutes that isn't bad.

Thomas was signed by Philly in 2003 and his deal runs through 2010.

Whoops, I was thinking of the other Thomas, Kurt.

I wouldn't mind having Amir and Hawes out there as our future with Max and Samb coming off the bench.

An interesting senario to say the least...
You would have to believe Tay would be the guy leaving (Ron's position).
You gain defense (on Bron & Pierce) and post scoring.
You lose ball handling and court awareness
Does Joe think of Sharpe as a low budget Tay... one year of development and Tay's contract off the books in 09/10 (15+ mil to play in the FA market next year)

I'm leaning on going for it... or we can get another Hayes type FA and fart in the wind.

Depending on what we get WITH Artest, this could turn out ok. The best scenario I've heard so far is that we get Artest and Hawes for Tay. We get a young center and a guy that, if he weren't crazy, would be an absolute stud. Artest within the first year with the Kings didn't give them any real headaches, it was after that, so maybe he can come here for a year with no headaches. I don't like trading Tay for a rental, but maybe it works out for us with next years free agent class and having Artest coming off the books. If you don't like how things are working, someone will pick him up at the trade deadline for something worthwhile. A team is always willing to take a chance on him, especially for that short of a term.

Everything that I have read says that the Kings are not going to part with Artest unless a team is willing to take on Kenny Thomas as well.

If they turned down Odom and his expiring contract for Artest, I doubt they will give us Artest and Hawes for Tay.

That said, I'm still not buying the legitimacy of this at all.

That's why I had Thomas in there. I heard they wanted him included as well. That's why I put together the Tay/RIP for Artest/Martin/Thomas/Hawes package.

Supposing they would do Tay for Artest/Hawes it wouldn't give us space anyway unless we renounced Sheed next year. The best case senario there would be Boozer and a MLE type wing to replace Tay. Suppose Boozer doesn't want to come here (stays in Utah or goes elsewhere). Then what? play undersized with Dyess and Marion or Odom up front? Or we keep Sheed and we still only have MLE type money to replace Tay. What do we do if RIP opts out and wants big money?

I'm not a big fan of the rental unless we are getting both Hawes and Martin (for RIP included). Then we can try for Boozer (or keep Sheed) and not have to worry about RIP's contract from limiting us.

Random thought:

Could Joe have had someone with the Pistons float this to the Sacramento Bee so he could gauge public reaction?

The longer we go without Joe saying he's not interested in Artest, the more likely it is that there is some smoke here.

Random thought:

Could Joe have had someone with the Pistons float this to the Sacramento Bee so he could gauge public reaction?

That could be the case... he certainly wouldn't want a situation where Ronnie get 's booed off the court... Although I'm sure Ronnie is used to the extra attention (as apposed to Darko).