Crazy Smart?

"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which." -Douglas Adams

This probably could've been a comment in the front page story that just hit, but I felt it might have been a little too long-winded for a comment.

We often laugh at the insanity of Ron Artest.  And we should, because it is quality stuff.  Such as today's less-than-shocking headline of Ron Artest saying he regrets not opting out, and that it his biggest mistake.  That's right, as of this afternoon, Ron-Ron thinks that not opting out was a bigger career mistake than when he started throwing haymakers in Detroit. 

But that's not really possible, is it?  Can one man honestly be that unable to maintain context from one minute to the next?  I think not.  Now, Muff did a great job of breaking down Ron's past exploits, so I will not rehash what we've already read, discussed, and enjoyed.  I would like to instead point out the absolute sanity with which Ron Artest is currently operating.

Ron Artest has not been coy in his desires to potentially play for a team such as the Lakers (to team up with Kobe) or Denver.  But he has also been adamant the the next deal he signs will not be a mid-level exception.  Ron Artest has just opened the door for both possibilities.  By not opting out of his deal with the Kings, Ron Artest makes himself a much more appealing trade option.  Denver was afraid that they would only have Artest for a few months and then he'd opt out.  Now they could look at trading for him knowing they would have him at his current price for the whole season.  Ditto for any other team in the league.  Artest is a bargain at his current price for any team looking for that slight edge.  This isn't to say that he still may not get serious trade interest until the trade deadline, but still.

At the same time that Ron is making himself appear available, he is also finding a reasonable way to get to a contender without settling for a mid-level exception in a year when not a lot of teams (let alone contenders) have cap flexibility.  Next year, many teams are expected to have more flexibility.  Ron is still viewed as a giant bag of crazy, so there's still a very good chance he won't receive the money he feels he is worth, but can probably get better than the MLE. 

Doesn't sound so crazy to me...