From the article:
Lakers spokesman John Black declined to comment on Artest’s assertion, but another person with knowledge of the situation corroborated Artest’s account that he will sign with L.A. pending the financial parameters being finalized.
It’s too soon for the Lakers to give up on re signing Trevor Ariza. Also, for as much as I (Douglas Reinhardt) like Ron Artest, I don’t believe he can fit into the Lakers system.
And I may have stated earlier that we had posted our final story about Ariza, but I just have one last thought about Ariza: your stomach is bigger than your mouth. Signing for big money in a place like Houston or Toronto or even Portland puts more pressure on him; he has to deliever and perhaps become the second scoring option on a team where as with the Lakers, Ariza is the fourth scoring option and just needs to play defense and keep on Kobe’s good side.
I was just about to post this. From what I’ve seen, Artest’s twitter has been all over the place. I’m not sure what to believe right now. I’d still love to see Ariza stay, but I’d actually be pretty excited to see Artest on the Lakers. I liked Artest until the playoffs, then hated him, and then started liking him again when he spent all that time in LA after he got eliminated.
I’m not really worried if Artest would fit into the Laker system. We could definitely utilize him as a rebounding and scoring Small Forward. He’d provide the defense we’d be losing in Ariza, and he could put up more points. As for Artest and Kobe, they were friendly at one point.
Either way, I like that we’re making strides to remain the champs in ‘10. Cleveland, Boston, and even San Antonio are certainly trying.
Here’s my favorite quote in the article from Ron Ron:
“”L.A. is what it is,” Artest said. “I’ve been here for the whole summer, and it’s pretty good. It’s good for me. I know Lamar Odom, so that’s pretty cool.”
And while I don’t believe that he’d play in LA for nothing, I think more guys should have that attitude (Ariza). As it stands, Artest has got more fire and passion than Ariza. I actually think Artest would be more beneficial.
According to the LA Times, we’re looking at a 5 year contract. Jesus, I feel like I can’t see him with us for more than one or two. With Artest, things can also go terribly wrong.
But let’s build that dynasty.
