Great riff on Muff’s essay. I have to admit - and I hope to write longer on this issue soon - that removed from the season a bit, I’ve come around on Ron quite a bit. Watching him can be infuriating, but when you look back at what he did and what he does, it’s really impressive.

Rec’d.

I agree Ron is very talented, but I just don’t see any team with him as the top dog competing for a title. It’s not likely that we’ll draft a player who will be able to come in and take over a leadership role from a guy that is 7-10 years older.

If he opts out we lose him for nothing, unless he “needs” a sign and trade. If he doesn’t opt out, trade his expiring contract preferably before the season starts.

Ron is a unique talent, and his presence makes for a lot more lively give and take here at StR. Never mind the on court contributions – how would we fill the writing void if he were not here?

I just don’t see how we can invest $65+ million in the man. As I have noted on many occasions, he has missed a ton of games in his career (even when you don’t count the brawl suspension). As great as Ron can be (and make no mistake, he is a top SF when he’s right), there is a reason why the Kings could not fetch as much as a draft pick and a role player for him.

That being said, I will add that I’ve never wanted to be wrong about something more than this. I would love to have Ron prove me wrong. I would love to have Ron opt in, play his arse off, stay healthy, not drive the coaching staff to distraction, engage his teammates on the court, trust his teammates on the court, and make his teammates better. Can Ron do that? Yes. Will Ron do that? To be continued…

Oh, and great post, Mityt.

Lets not be dumb here, put things in perspective! If this was a winning team Ron-Rons occasional distractions, his OCCASIONAL ball-hogging – all would be forgiven for everything else he would bring to a Winning team.
I’ve said it before but its worth repeating – he’s a feakin’ championship piece! – and still YOUNG! Talk him down to near K-Martin $$ and he’s a steal.
You just really need that third piece – that third threat in the starting line-up to be a true contender. We have several very good bench options,start with Cisco – he’s a keeper! A real 6th-man threat off the bench that other teams are starting to FEAR.
We need to shore up the PG position, re-sign Beno (PG doesn’t have to be an All-Star – look at Boston and LA) and get that long, tall, fast, athletic player who can also be a bench threat, create mismatches, (rebound!), make teams react to US. THATS the next step towards a championship caliber team.
Watch just how MUCH this team would change with a player like that if we can get one of these young, tall, fast guys available (IN THIS DRAFT!) who can earn some significant minutes.
We do need another strong personality who can balance Ron-Ron – maybe Hawes is that guy in waiting(?).

for Josh Howard…or anyone else really. Theus just thinks too highly of him both offensively and defensively speaking. The offense is designed to stop once the ball reaches Ron, Theus thinks hes a guy you can just “throw the ball to” and watch. I strongly disagree with his assessment and believe that any NBA offense centered on a Ron Artest Iso game is one that will fail. Ron scores less than Kmart and averages only one more assist than does Martin. If hes worthy of all the Iso plays called for him and as good at working out of the double team as reggie believes than hed certainly be getting more assists and probably scoring more as well.

Secondly, Ron is awesome on the defense of end, just awesome but his defense is based on his hand speed and his size not his foot speed. Thinking of our games against the lakers in particular when Artest was in the game with either Garcia/Salmons he should not have been on kobe, Garcia and Salmons are both better equipped to defend the premier 2s in this league.

I guess my problem is more with Theus and how he overuses Ron.

I don’t think Ron is really perceived as crazy. I think if you don’t pay enough attention to the guy, then that becomes the common assumption. What most people actually around here think of him as is un-reliable. Crazy isn’t a deterrent to anything. Just look @ Kobe Bryant. The guy is pure loony tunes, and always has been. Didn’t stop the Lakers from offering him that 7 year offer with 136 million bones attached to it though.

If John Salmons is your 2nd best player you’re going to have a hard time winning 25 games let alone 38. On the other hand, if Artest is so great why has he been on so many mediocre teams? It’s a mystery to me how such a valuable talent has a tricky and slippery trade market at best. What’s even a larger mystery to me at this point is how anyone can expect that to change in the future when Artest because of how he plays gets hurt, and subsequently, chooses when he will play. This makes it impossible to imagine a circumstance where he will become more valuable over the next 3 or 4 years.

Garcia is a bench player. Last I checked Robert Horry has been pretty valuable his whole career. That Manu Ginobili impacts whether the Spurs wins a championship or not. He’s not the deciding factor, but he’s a top 3 one. You need players you can do valuable things for you up & down the roster, and Garcia is a player who can do valuable things in an unusual way, particularly for younger players. That’s what someone around here may call an asset in the future.

I’m not sure there’s a conventional way to build a championship team. I do know you gotta have great talent that can beat everyone else to get there. That’s about the only certainty I’ve found in championship teams.

As far as 2010 comes around, I think that’s something of a mythical hot spot for dumb journalists to push to cover up how little they know about the CBA and the impact it’s currently having on negotiations for players around the NBA at the moment. Most players have found that the teams with the most money for them are the one’s they are on, which is what the CBA is designed to do, and a few players like Rashard Lewis will be the one’s who move. Since 2010 seems to be primarily about the LeBron James’ sweepstakes my next question is simple. When was the last time a player of James’ caliber switched teams in Free Agency?

Your last paragraph is a stretch, and I’ve already commented on the extending Ron bit. I just don’t see this group as constituted with/without Artest as a championship group. I will never see it, unless it’s downright obvious. By that point I will be too busy screaming to admit I’m a know-it-all punk.

While everybody throws the “fragile” label at Beno, he played more games this season than Artest, even without counting his suspension at the beginning of the season. And Beno wasn’t even on the roster on opening day, and had a broken finger when we signed him.

My main arguments against keeping Artest would be:

1. He isn’t content to not be the focal point of the offense at all times. He demands the ball (or brings it up himself) and wants to always initiate the offense. He is not now, nor has he ever been on any team, the primary scoring threat.

2. He believes that he is worth essentially double what he is making now, while missing significant numbers of games each year and having off-court problems.

3. He doesn’t move without the ball and isn’t a good passer, both of which are important in a motion offense, which is the model Petrie always uses when building a team.

I really wouldn’t care if he had to be brought to the game in a cage by armed guards, then turned loose at game time if he could (or would) be consistently good, make his teammates better, and work within the offense. But I believe, strictly from a basketball standpoint, and his behavioral issues notwithstanding, the Kings would be better off without him.

And because I know the next question is going to be who I’d replace him with, my answer to that is either Garcia (due for his breakout season) or someone via trade (Josh Howard).

“Barely a top 20 player”? As there are only 30 teams – What is wrong with having someone who is “barely in the top 20” on our team? Aren’t we reaching a little high?

Seems AGAIN to me that some are talking about giving away a veteran – but still young – championship piece that has fallen into our laps.

I KNOW there are some risks – but you need to take some to build a championship team.
We win 45-50 games next year and all (most) will be forgiven/forgotten – I’m sure of that.

Lets run down some criticisms of some of the leagues great players.

KGarnet – jumpshooter (all I could get)
DNewitski (sp? – sorry) – can’t defend – is soft
Yao Ming – doesn’t rebound enough, is slow, injury prone
TMcGrady – definately injury prone, ball hog, – not a leader
DHoward – can’t shoot (no – really!)
Kobe – ball hog, doesn’t make others better, bad indiv
TDuncan – not a leader (I got nothin’ else)
SNash – no defense
MRedd – just a shooter
CBosh – skinny, fragile, not a great shooter
LaBron – (i got nothin’ -dude needs some help)
A-I – streaky shooter, ball hog
PGasol – soft, dissapears
Boozer – not a leader in any way
GArenas – Definately a ball hog – not a team guy
BDavis – injury prone (1st season he’s ever completed?)

I could go on and on (maybe I just did). Point is, there’s something to critisize about everybody’s game. Winning makes those things forgetable.

Plus, I think he’s basically a good guy showing signs of real maturity.

SAVE RON ARTEST

Everyone on that list is making $12-$20 MILLION a year. Get over it.

I always preface this with “PER is a guide, not a rule.” That being said, Artest ranks very high at SF (#7) but only #41 overall. Of the guys in the top 40, Leon Powe is the only guy that I wouldn’t trade Ron for straight up. By the way, Kevin Martin comes in at #21.