Artest coming to the ATL

[phoostal]

Chicago tribune columnist Sam Smith is reporting that the Hawks and Pacers are discussing a trade for Artest. The trade would be Pollard and Artest for AW.

Thoughts and comments? I don't think it would be that bad of a trade.

P

[capstone21]

Pollard is another solid backup center.

Artest for his talent has a very resonable contract if he can keep his emotions in check. However, it is yet another swingman on our team.

Although with Pollard we only need a starting quality center in the off season. I guess Harrington would move to PF but we still don't improve our outside shooting.

[delanceyj]

seems we would have learned our lesson w/ JR Rider.. what kind of influence would Artest have on our young guys.. I don't like this trade at all. As talented as Artest is, I don't think it is worth the risk.

[CBAreject]

Reports from the commissioner's office this morning indicated a unique but creative ruling on the Pacers fiasco in November. David Stern has decreed that Ron Artest presents a serious threat to NBA fans, and as such may resume his career under one condition. Sources disclose that Stern will insist that Artest play with the lowly Atlanta Hawks, and only the Atlanta Hawks. Given the absence of fans from Phillips arena on game nights, the commissioner feels that Atlanta is the only place that Artest may safely play. When reminded that the Hawks play half their games away from Phillips, Stern paused for a few seconds as if he had not considered this ramification, and then he adamantly stated that Artest would only be able to play in home games, except when Shaquille O'Neal and Lebron James are in town and bring their entourages.

[codyatl]

As much as I hate what he did and the way he has carried himself over the yrs, I would love to see he and JSmoove together on the court. Our lineup would feature 3 sf though. We would have to draft a sharp shooting pg next yr. I like Pollard as well. he is a hrad worker down low which is something we need. Would make us a much deeper team.

Paul? Jack? Ivey

Artest, Jchill, Delk?

JSmoove, Donta

AL, Pollard

Drobs, Collier

Heres a nice thought. We trade AL to the sixers for dalembert and then go out and sign Ray Allen. I think Allen would have to seriously consider playing here if we made these moves. We would instantly be considered a favorite in the east.

Paul or jack, Delk, Ivey

Allen, jchill

Artest, Donta

JSmoove, Pollard

Dalembert, Drobs, Collier(we keep him around for hack a shaq)

I believe these moves are not over the top. They are do-able. We still would have some room left unde the cap to sign a vet bu sf. Thoughts?

[Buzzard]

Not in a million years. Even mentions in the article, one more outburst from Artest and its a possible lifetime ban.

We get a number one from Indy and possibly another player but not Artest, Pollard and no pick=No Way!

Indy wants the playoffs and a run this year, they give us a pick.

BK does this he better have a plan in place to move Artest. The guy will blow up again and then we have nothing but a backup center for the 10 mill we payed out to have Walker so far this season.

[Lascar78]

i love it if it happens

love it

i think ron will behave. from a talent stand point, its not even close

[Blunt91]

Are your for real or is this a joke?

[cyman3]

i love it as well... love the idea.

it comes down to this, are u willing to take ARTEST + POLLARD for free (assuming ur willing to pay their salaries, both players have fair contracts)?

Artest was a great #2 option in INDY during their run last year. And we all know of his defensive standpoint.

ok, so TALENT isint the issue here. its all about- are u willing to take the chance?

i say, YES...

why?

1)The PALACE incident. while it is wrong for ARTEST to go out like that, u heard it from everyone in the league. Charles Barkley said that he would have done the SAME THING if someone threw beer at him.

i feel like ARTEST is the new RASHEED WALLACE. Artest, if u disgard the new incident, has been somewhat "calm" and hasnt caused much trouble (yes, im aware he asked for time off like an idiot- but he got his punishment and he admits he was wrong). hey, if Artest can only play for 60 games or so of the 82... id still take him!

I say go through w/ this trade. Artest is a competitor and he'll make our ROOKIES play hard every night.

i just dont know how he'll handle the LOSING. will he go all RON ARTEST on us or will he have patience?

im curious to see wat HARRINGTON thinks of this trade idea.

[TheDude]

only in two cases...artest can play sg or better yet, we turn around and trade him to a contender (bcuz he can play in playoffs) for something really nice.

[cyman3]

even better... lol

a THREE-WAY, and give us PEJA from SACTOWN.

and we'll crush our competition with the 2 PEJAs jump shooting from every spot on the basketball court.

[macdaddy]

That's a joke.

Maybe we can get Artest, Spree, and that guy the blazers released for cruelty to animals.

This trade won't happen because Artest is only a great asset on a team that's already good and Polard would just add to our long list of marginal centers. BK isn't that desperate to lose games. We are doing just fine with that.

[Lascar78]

Pollard would be a SIGNIFICANT improvement at our center spot. Sure he's no superstar, but he can get the job done. He is not a liability on offense or on defense. That can not be said about any center we currently have. He held his own against Shaq in the Sacramento-LA series in the past. It's hard to get minutes behind Jermaine ONeal, but he can play.

As for Artest, we're not going to get a player of his caliber in free agency or in a trade. We're just not. No maybe's ifs, or but's about it. Redd is not signing with the lowly hawks just like Kobe wouldn't consider signing for the lowly hawks. Neither is Peja. Walker will not get you any other all star in the league, and no all star in the league will just sign here. So from a talent stand point, there will be no better deal possible. The only reason this is available is because Ron has shown himself to be an off-again on-again nutjob. They are stacked contenders who are tired of dealing with his antics. They'd rather have someone less talented but more stable. They can sign real free agents in the offseason. We can not. That is why we have to take the chance.

This improves our overall talent, and partly adresses our center position. I would feel much better with Pollard+Peja as a starter than Collier+Peja.

The ramifications would be that for this year, we have no Ron. Which would leave us with Lue/Childress/Smith/Harrington/Pollard. You want the youth to play? Here's their chance to play.

For next year we have

PG we draft/

Smith/Childress

Artest

Harrington

Pollard/Peja

We start looking more like an actual NBA team. Tanking this season (even more) will get us a prime pick that we'll use to get a top PG (paul, jack...). Our needs in free agency are then shooters and more help at C. It still leaves us with 3 players (Smith, Artest, Harrington) for 2 positions really, but smith can play the 2 occasionally and back up the 3, and get enough minutes.

This isn't the answer to all our prayers, but it's as close as we're going to get in my opinion.

I don't care how big of a nut you are, losing most of your $6 million salary has got to make you think twice.

Also to whoever said they didn't want Artest around the young guys, I disagree. Yes he occasionally flips out and any sane person can see he lost it. But on the 99.99% of days that he doesn't, he is the most intense and hardest playing man in the league, and probably one of the 2 best defenders in the league. I would love for our young players to learn how to be aggressive from him.

[JTFan31]

Great point Lascar. This way we tank the season which is the right thing to do, to get that 1st pick and possibly trade it, because honestly nothing in this year's draft impresses me so much to have at number 1 pick.

Ron, yes he did what he did, and it was absolutely wrong, but everyone deserves a second chance in life, and he deserves it. He is not like Rider, he doesnt miss airflights with the team and he doesnt skip practices.

I would welcome Ron with open arms

[Lascar78]

yeah, artest is not a bad guy, he's an unstable guy. He does tons and tons of stuff for the community, and is supposedly a great guy with a huge heart. But he has some mental issues and sometimes snaps.

JR rider was an all around selfish guy with a bad attitude.

Big difference. One of them's an @ss. One of them just has issues.

(not trying to make excuses for his horrible behavior, I just don't think they reflect his day to day attitude)

[Diesel]

Aside from his fierious styles attitude....

Artest was the same guy who said that he wanted to take a few months off before the season started so that he could hype up his album...

You don't trade for that.

Also... This must just be rumor because Artest/Pollard doesn't match salarywise... thank God!!

[Employee8]

Quote:

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They'd rather have someone less talented but more stable.

They can sign real free agents in the offseason. We can not. That is why we have to take the chance.

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Uhh...so they trade for Walker then? Artest is NOT more talented than Antoine. They are two totally different types of players.

That said, I'd keep looking to see if there's another (better) deal out there for us. If not, and if THIS DEAL *really* comes to fruition, then I don't see why we don't take that chance with Artest and obtain ourselves a nice solid Center in the process. Remember....Woodson stresses DEFENSE which is Artest's strength(plus he can shoot the ball a little) and Pollard is very pesky in the middle. On the other side of the coin, Larry Bird likes Walker (which is why he trades for him) and dislikes the shenanigans of Artest. Walker at PF with O'Neal at Center is one hell of a combo if you ask me.

[Inside_Man]

Read the article.

The trade is the idea of the writer. Bird says there aren't any talks with Atlanta.

End of story.

[Diesel]

The reason would be this:

To have money in escrow. It's all financial. Artest won't touch the court this season. BK knows that. There will still be suitors for Artest in the offseason. BK knows that too. All he has really done is make room for our rooks to play this season out and gotten the former DPY on the squad.

More than likely, we would allow RA to go through Psychological exams... Maybe put him with the Doc that saw Smoltz abotu his controll. Then we will hype him during the offseason and hope that NY/Sac/NJ comes calling as they probably will. IF no deal works for us, then I'm sure BK will take the risk on Artest but again... It's too much like Rider. Say what you like, Artest has a strong history...

[Lascar78]

Quote:

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Artest is NOT more talented than Antoine

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You are sorely mistaken. And I like Toine. He can be an all star on the right team.

But artest is arguably the best defensive player in the world. Added to that, he can get you 20 and 10 on offense. He is much, much better than toine. His game has no real flaws. He is not flashy on offense but gets it done. Toine shoots too many threes and can't shoot free throws.