Ron Artest Signs With LakersThe Lakers made a huge splash this week by signing Ron Artest instead of re-signing Trevor Ariza. This move caught many by surprise including myself, since it looked like the Lakers were going to re-sign Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza and keep this year's championship team together. The move to sign Artest shows that the Lakers are in a win now mode and are trying to build a dynasty around Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and now Ron Artest. There's no doubt that while order than Ariza, Artest is a better offensive player than Ariza is. Defensively I'm not sure Artest is still head and shoulders above Ariza, so there might not be an upgrade there, but he will definitely provide more consistency to the SF position for the Lakers. I also think this move was specifically made with the Celtics and Paul Pierce in mind. Pierce has notoriously struggled mightily when squaring off against Artest and with the Celtics healthy again next season it's very much possible that we could be seeing another Celtics/Lakers finals. I think Artest could give the Lakers some added toughness to match up against the Celtics.
Boston Celtics Offer Rasheed Wallace Contract
Speaking of the Celtics, if they do face off against the Lakers in the NBA Finals next season, not only will Ron Artest be on the court, but it's possible that Rasheed Wallace may be as well. The Celtics have offered Rasheed Wallace the mid-level exception in hopes of luring him to Boston. I am personally drooling over the entertainment value of Rasheed Wallace and KG playing on the same team along with Kendrick Perkins. That would be one tough front court with a ton of attitude and nastiness. Not only that, but a Celtics/Lakers series with KG, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, Kobe, Pau, Odom and now possibly Artest and Rasheed would most definitely be a classic and a true matchup of titans. If Rasheed does sign with the Celtics, he would actually be coming off the bench and would probably see a lot of minutes subbing for Perkins. He would also probably see minutes at the 3 and 4. The Celtics wouldn't need much scoring from Wallace, which is perfect because he's never excelled at being one of the main guys, and he could then focus on defense, rebounding, and knocking down open three's. Think of him as a bigger version of James Posey.
In other Celtics news, Big Baby has the Pistons, Spurs, and Knicks interested in him and it looks like it's possible that Big Baby, Leon Powe, and Stephon Marbury may all not be back with them. That would probably leave some room for the Celtics to make a few other moves. A backup point guard would definitely be high on that list if they lose Marbury who just declined their latest offer and has said that he has three other teams interested in him.
Zach Randolph Traded To Memphis Grizzlies
So the Clippers did the right thing by moving Zach Randolph and creating more playing time for Blake Griffin. This is the major impact of this move, but I also think the Grizzlies will do alright by having Randolph on their team. His weakness is defensively, but that might not hurt the Grizzlies as much if Hasheem Thabeet is able to be a force on the defensive end in the paint. I don't expect the Grizzlies to be a winning team next season, but they definitely have a decent group of young players. I do have a few issues with their squad though. The first is that I don't really think Zach Randolph is going to help them in their rebuilding process, but I think since his contract expires after the 2011 season, then the Grizzlies will probably just hang onto him for this season and then flip him and his expiring contract next year.
The second problem I have with the Grizzlies is that while they have a decent group of young players in O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, & Hasheem Thabeet; I don't feel like any of those guys is a superstar type player that can win you a championship. Mayo should improve, but he is probably a 2nd option at best and Gay is probably a 3rd option. I think Conley is going to be good enough to be a solid PG on a championship caliber team and Thabeet if he's solid defensively is a nice part to have as well. However, at some point it may make sense for the Grizzlies to try and flip Mayo or Gay or maybe even both for a superstar type player who could help them win a championship. That of course would be a few years down the line, but if that doesn't happen then I could see this team peaking as perennial 4 or 5 seed that just doesn't have enough to win it all.
Houston Rockets
A rough week for the Houston Rockets, who found out that they most likely may be without Yao Ming next season and possibly forever if his injury is indeed career ending. They also lost one of their better players in Ron Artest to the Lakers and replaced him with a less consistent offensive player in Trevor Ariza. I know we all severely underrated this team last season, especially in the playoffs against the Lakers, but they just keep losing more and more scoring and at some point you have to figure they won't be able to sustain their success. Certainly a healthy Tracy McGrady would improve the offense, but there are no guarantees that McGrady will be healthy for a full season. I have to wonder what direction this franchise is heading in and if they are just trying to make the playoffs instead of shooting for an NBA title. It's great to find all these bargins and sleeper players like Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry, but if you don't surround them with superstars then it really doesn't accomplish anything.
Allen Iverson
There has been talk that Iverson may be forced into retirement because no team is going to be willing to pay him what he probably want. Iverson will probably be forced to take somebodies mid-level exception and I think that is what will eventually happen instead of AI retiring. The Bulls and Heat are two teams that are said to be interested in Iverson, who you would imagine might prefer to play in Miami next to Dwyane Wade. However, it's been reported that Iverson wants to play for the Grizzlies next season, which makes no sense to me for either Iverson or the Grizzlies.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons wasted no time in free agency signing two former UConn Huskies, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Both of them are solid offensively and can score in bunches, but they also are not the best defensive players, and I think that hurts their value to their team. I don't really think they are a good fit for what what Detroit already has on their roster as well, so I would expect the Pistons to be making a few more moves during the offseason. Rip Hamilton and Tashaun Prince could definitely be changing teams in the near future.
Other NBA News
- Marcin Gortat reached an agreement with the Dallas Mavericks and should be an excellent addition to their squad. Gortat really played well off the bench for the Magic last season and he should give the Mavs some more toughness downlow. This could also allow the Mavericks to package the expiring salaries of Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse in a trade.
- Josh Childress is back on the NBA free agent scene and has visited with the Milwaukee Bucks this week. He could be a decent pickup for a playoff caliber team, but I don't see him making much sense for the Bucks.
- The Raptors have been trying to acquire David Lee, so that's something to keep an eye on. The Grizzlies were interested in Lee too, but decided to trade for Zach Randolph instead after they found out how much money Lee was looking for.
- Jason Kidd is a hot commodity right now as both the Mavs and Knicks are looking to offer him 3-year deals, which seems insane considering he's at least 3 years past his prime already. It's even more insane for the Knicks, who should be in rebuilding/save money for Lebron mode.
- Cleveland has some interest in Shawn Marion and also Anthony Parker and Linas Kleiza, who would all be solid additions to the Cavs.
More: NBA Weekly
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