Artest to Mavs?

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/1089066.html (end of page)

You're telling me this deal is hung up on a self-confessed pot-smoker who shoots 20% in the clutch and disappears in the fourth quarter?

Get. This. Deal. Done.

Sucks to lose Bass, but Artest is Bass with skins on the wall.

 

I wouldn't trade for Artest if it cost me Howard, either -- I would trade if it paired them together.

 

Memo to the Sac Bee writer: If you have news of a concrete offer from the Mavs for Ron Artest, maybe that should be your main story and who's coaching the Kings' summer league team should be a note at the bottom. Not the other way around.

 

Bass is entering his fourth year, has a solid head, has improved every year, and is heading up. Artest is entering his 10th year, is an unstable lunatic who can snap any second, and is on the downward slope of his career arc.

Not exactly a no-brainer, in fact, this deal has an "up n comer for aging former star" dynamic that smells distinctly similar to the Harris for Kidd mistake the Mavs made a few months ago. And I sure as hell wouldn't make this if I have to include Josh Howard.

 

why does anybody still want Ron Artest?

 

Have you seen him play?

 

Ron is still one of the best two-way players in the NBA. He's a complete headcase though. If he sticks to his pattern, he'll play hard and all out for the Mavs (or whomever) for a season or so, then get disgruntled and request a trade.

 

He is permamently disgruntled.
Yes, he plays hard. But he's a total jerk and one of the most overrated players in NBA history.

 

Agree on him being a jerk. Completely disagree on him being overrated.

 

To roll the dice on Stack and Bass for Artest?

It's worth it.

You have a chance for an all-star in Artest. The two guys you are giving up are not going to be all-stars. In fact, if they start, you are probably in a little trouble.

 

Screw-loose headcases do not help teams win. At best, they can be tolerated/ made useful for a while, if the team has other stronger/more dominant personalities at the center of its playing group (see Jordan/Bulls, Rodman) who can override their destructive influences, but building your team with a screw-loose nut case as one of the fundamental pieces of your rotation is asking for disaster. The screw-loose nut cases fold/blow up at the worst time (see Pistons, Rasheed Wallace) and take the team down with them.

There are four things you need to do with screw-loose nut cases:

1. Get
2. Rid
3. Of
4. Them.

They Do Not Help You Win.

 

If I'm the Kings, I do not make this deal.