Wild Ride?
The Sacramento Bee, quoting an unnamed source, reported Wednesday that the Magic have inquired about the availability of volatile forward Ron Artest. The proposed deal would reunite Turkoglu with the Kings, the franchise he played with for the first three years of his career, and would send Artest back East to give Orlando a much-needed attitude adjustment.Magic general manager Otis Smith repeatedly lamented the Magic's lack of a killer instinct last season, saying that his team "liked each other way too much," and didn't always hold each other accountable because of their mostly mild-mannered players.
The gritty Artest, of course, could dramatically alter that mindset. The 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Defense selection would bring an aspect of toughness that was missing last season when the Magic struggled to a 40-42 record and were swept out of the playoffs by Detroit.
Because Artest is set to make $7.8 million and Turkoglu is due $6.3 million, the trade could be made straight up and would fall within the parameters of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It might be crazy-stupid but sure wouldn't be boring. It's these kind of rumors that make this time of year so much fun.
posted by WeRDevos @ 9:22 AM
8 Comments:
At 11:09 AM,
Big Figure said…
This would be a great move for so many reason's. At 22 and 18 points a game rashard and ron would be our team leaders in scoring without even playing a game. Both can hit the three pointer and ron can play the shooting guard position as a starter,then we could use JJ just like the spurs use ginobli cause i always had reservations about JJ as a full time starter defensively. If artest were to get into more trouble out here,he'd be basically throwing away his chance to finish his nba career so i think he'd be under control for a while in orlando playing with the good guys.
At 11:49 AM,
WeRDevos said…
I believe the Ron Artest is insane. That he would do something stupid to damage the team or go against the coach within a year or two. Because that's his history and guys like that don't change.
That said, he'd likely be brilliant for the year or two before he blows up. And there is only one year left on his cheap contract.
I would love for this trade to happen.
At 12:22 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I'm with both of you guys. I'm especially with WERDEVOS in regards to the idea of Artest being insane. It's obvious the guy isn't all together in the head. But at the same time, his contract is coming to an end, and he could bring so much to our team. He'd be apart of a good team, and maybe a winning team would give him something to focus on for a season or two and keep him out of trouble. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't expect it to last long, but I'd feel safe calling the Magic contenders in the East if Artest was in the starting rotation, even if Battie is the starting PF.
At 12:24 PM,
OVERWADED said…
Oh by the way; Grant Hill is officially gone.
At 2:08 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I was wrong, Artest has two years left on his contract with the second year at his option.
Artest agent denying any talks have taken place with Magic, just rumors. Still, sacbee.com says Kings want Hedo. http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/256061.html
If it happens, who could argue that Hedo/Darko for Rashard/Ron isn't a huge upgrade?
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My prediction for Hill in Phoenix is it will turn out badly. He wants to start, get minutes, take 20 games a year off to rest his ankle and somehow be given credit for Suns making the second round of playoffs next year. Not sure this improves the Suns a bit.
Good riddance to the worst 7 year period in Magic history.
At 4:01 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Ron Artest's stats from last season with SAC:
GP 70
AVG MIN 37.7
FG% 44.0
3 PT FG 93
3 PT FG% 35.8
PPG 18.8
AST/G 3.4
REB/G 6.5
ST/G 2.1
Also this item from this past May 3rd:
Artest pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge stemming from a March 5, 2007 dispute with his wife... Artest was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project through the Placer County (CA) sheriff's department. Artest was also fined $600 and ordered to get extensive counseling.
Pretty impressive stats for Artest, no doubt, and he could help the Magic advance deep into the playoffs even with the PF position as weak as it is now. Would it be worth it, though, to put up with all of the distractions and baggage that Artest would bring? I wonder how Artest would feel coming to the Magic and moving clear across the country. If he would want to be in Orlando and promised to keep 100% focused on basketball he probably would be worth the chance.
At 4:12 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Regarding Grant Hill, his agent said that Hill signed a 2 year deal with the Suns. The first year is worth $1.8 million, and the second year at Hill's option at $2 million. The agent said that 15 teams showed interest in signing Hill, but Hill chose PHO because he thinks they're close to winning a championship. Hill is not guaranteed a starting spot, nor is he asking for one; he just wants to contribute to a championship.
Best of luck to Grant... a very classy individual. Perhaps it's a good thing that everyone can now turn the page and move forward after Grant's injury-riddled 7 years with the Magic.
At 5:44 PM,
OVERWADED said…
Two years huh; Grant's feeling optimistic. Either way it's zero risk for the Suns.
He is a class act. However, Brian Hill was referred to as a class act also.
My point, they both had larger negative impacts on the Magic organization than positive.
The fact of the matter is the franchise would have been better off if he would have never signed here and I shouldn't have to explain why.
I don't want to start bashing on Grant Hill, because he's as respectable of a player as they come in the NBA. So I'll consider this my closure. Every Magic fan deserves some Grant Hill closure if needed. I'm just very happy to move on from the Grant Hill years, because sometimes it felt like they would never end.
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