As a true Laker fan, I am very disappointed with this move. Trevor Ariza was an ideal Laker and rapidly improving and it was really a joy to watch his game develop over the last two seasons. The greatest eye-popper for me – and there were many – was when he got mad at Turkoglu in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and then absolutely exerted his will, all but completely put the clamps on him, forced a couple turnovers and made Turkoglu looked completely overmatched. Oh, and Trevor is barely 24.
Artest, this year’s most disappointing fantasy draft pick for Hank’s Gatherers (my team) is possibly the biggest drama queen in the NBA and as far as I’m concerned is just this side of completely nuts. I’ll give Artest a slight – very slight – nod as a basketball player over Artest because he has 15-lb huevos, but I can’t help but think two months into the season Artest will be in sad sack mode, complaining to anyone who will listen that he is just sick over signing for so little money just to play for the Lakers, “while that bench guy over there [Lamar Odom] collects $10-mil a year.” And I won’t even go into his shot selection; let’s just say Kobe has some real competition as to who can force up the most ill-advised shots over the course of the season.
I just can’t help but feel the Lakers fall from grace has just started.
Your thoughts:
I think it’s the other way around. Purely as a basketball player, Artest gets an edge over Artest any day. YMMV.
Gack! Way to ruin my night! I love Ariza, that dude has all the potential in the world. Plus he went to UCLA! Although the bastard left after only one year and probably could’ve helped UCLA to a national championship. Artest is a fucking thug. WAAAAAAAH!!!
You can always pick up Iverson. He is even courting Memphis for a spot.
I think Artest is clearly the better player atm, but i don’t blame Laker fans for liking Arisa better.
Big mistake!
Ariza will never be Kobe, but Kobe is gone in 5 years. With the right kind of winning team atmosphere (Lakers) and instructors (Kobe and Phil), Ariza could become a great player and go a long way towards replacing Kobe when he retires.
Artest will help the Lakers over the next few years IF he chooses to become a “Laker”, that is, a true team player, but he has never really been that kind of player through out his career. Let’s just hope Kobe and Phil can keep him in line.
Remember Dennis Rodman!
Ariza’s agent was being a hard ball playing, grandstanding prick. The would have signed Ariza if he would have been reasonable. Artest was Plan B.
I think this is a fantastic move. Artest brings a lot of toughness to a team that was widely criticized as being soft and too “finesse.” He brings another legitimate scoring option, though he isn’t a fantastic scorer by any means. Most importantly though, he will be guarding the opposing team’s best 2 or 3, instead of Kobe. This will extend Kobe’s energy and prolong his ability to be a dominant scoring 2 guard. I really like how LA can guard the 2 and 3 positions with Artest and Kobe, and Pau is no slouch manning the middle either. All of a sudden this team got really tough.
Yeah, Artest is a thug and we all hate him for being a nutcase, but Trevor Ariza isn’t Artest. It isn’t close either. Ariza replacing Kobe? Never. Never ever.