the Undone Deal: Artest for Peja
I admit I got sucked into the trap when I heard that Artest had been sent to Sacramento for Peja but I should have known this debacle was far from being over as Steve Kerr at Yahoo!Sports says:
"The latest episode of "As Ron Artest' s World Turns"took another twist Tuesday, with Artest informing
the Sacramento Kings that he didn't want to play
for them after a deal had been agreed upon
with the Indiana Pacers earlier in the day"
But wait today is another day and now:
"ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reports that Ron Artest
is boarding a plane for Boston and he will be in a Kings
uniform Friday night against the Celtics"
Pending league approval, yesterday it looked like it was gonna be Peja to the Kings for the Pacers' Ron Artest an interesting choice to say the least for Larry Bird. I imagine the reason it took so long is because they wanted to make sure that Peja would commit to the Pacers (long term contract) or else I can see no reason why a deal like this would not have been concluded long ago.is boarding a plane for Boston and he will be in a Kings
uniform Friday night against the Celtics"
Apparently the only thing standing in the way is the fact that the:
"Kings owners, the Maloof brothers, reportedly want to have a meeting with Artest before completing the deal"It was six weeks ago on Dec. 11 that Ron "Ronnie" Artest came out of the closet and floored the Pacers franchise with a trade demand under the pretext that he needed a change of scenery in order for him to get over the "incident" that has been haunting him and his image:
"Artest told the Indianapolis Star on Dec. 11
that he wanted to be traded and that
he didn't like playing for Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
He also said he wanted to join an NBA team
that would allow him to shoot more often"
that he wanted to be traded and that
he didn't like playing for Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
He also said he wanted to join an NBA team
that would allow him to shoot more often"
Not sure he would have been shooting more often in Sactown with others who have proven to have more offensive game than Artest (who has two years remaining on his contract) but he would have run the floor much better than Stojakovic, who,
I guess we'll see how good RonRon is, unless they decide not to put him in the starting rotation (which would be like a slap in the face).
Indiana, who is just not playing the same since Artest made his trade demand:
Stojakovic, (who has a contract option to opt out of his contract at the end of this season), goes to a team with an even slower pace than the Kings...the Pacers, where he should fit in perfectly in the half-court offence. Defensively though Indiana, is gonna find it tough against the speedier forwards.
The Pacers are too close to contention in the Eastern Conference to let the door of opportunity shut on the team that has undergone so much turmoil.
"will be a free agent in July and the Kings,
with roughly zero shot at keeping him after Tuesday's events"
with roughly zero shot at keeping him after Tuesday's events"
but still I'm not convinced because as Marc Stein at ESPN.com says:
I guess we'll see how good RonRon is, unless they decide not to put him in the starting rotation (which would be like a slap in the face).
Indiana, who is just not playing the same since Artest made his trade demand:
Stojakovic, (who has a contract option to opt out of his contract at the end of this season), goes to a team with an even slower pace than the Kings...the Pacers, where he should fit in perfectly in the half-court offence. Defensively though Indiana, is gonna find it tough against the speedier forwards.
The Pacers are too close to contention in the Eastern Conference to let the door of opportunity shut on the team that has undergone so much turmoil.
