In all the time I've been a fan of the NBA, I don't think I'd ever heard of a situation like this where two players swap teams on the same day and are not involved in a trade. Free agents can't officially sign with a team until July 8th, but Ron Artest's deal will be 3 years and worth about $18 million while Trevor Ariza's will be... exactly the same thing! This is getting freaky lol.
Anyway, though Ron Artest has the bigger name, I'm not sure who got that better of this arrangement?? I mean both Artest and Ariza are great defenders who are capable of knocking down threes when needed. The only difference is that Ariza won't be getting all those open looks like he did when he played with Kobe.
How about the Lakers now though?? Kobe, Pau, Odom, and Artest?? If they can get some better play out of Jordan Farmar I think you can pretty much pen L.A. in as the favorites to be the champs again next season. And just in case you were wondering, yes my "09 Ariza = 08 Posey, 09 Lakers = 08 Celtics" theory from yesterday has officially been tossed in the trash can. Had to be done.
2) Shaq Introduced In Cleveland
Shaq said that he wants to "win a ring for the King" in his introductory press conference. I'm not so sure how that's gonna go with Ron Artest now a Laker, but it should get interesting. The Magic really let the LeBrons off the hook by most likely letting Hedo walk in exchange for Vince Carter, but who knows.
Oh yeah, Shaq also made an appearance on PTI today and Michael Wilbon offered some new Cleveland nicknames and the one Shaq liked the best was "The Big Witness Protection." I must say, I really like that one too and I think its all but settled at this point.
3) Riley Contacts Iverson About Joining Heat??
Now this is according to "insiders" so don't take it as fact, but if there's any truth to it Pat Riley is on one. Don't get me wrong, I love Allen Iverson, but he isn't what the Heat need at all. The Heat don't need another scoring guard, they need some consistent big men. Plus, where is he gonna play?? Are they gonna stunt Mario Chalmers' growth and put him on the bench?? You KNOW Iverson isn't coming off the bench. This is just a bad idea if you ask me. I'd much rather hear about the Heat trying to pursue Iverson's team mate last year Rasheed Wallace. Speaking of 'Sheed...
4) Celtics Bring Out Big Guns To Woo Wallace
"Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck, team president Danny Ainge, coach Doc Rivers and All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, all met with Wallace for three hours in Detroit"
Damn! The Heat need to do the same thing, but instead of coaches and team execs they should bring along the Miami Caliente. If you don't know who the Miami Caliente's are, they're Miami's team in the Lingerie Football League! More on them later, but I think that would definitely do the trick.
