Place this one firmly under the heading of "rumor mill," but Sam Amick files this story on his blog in the Sacramento Bee. Cliff notes version - Rick Carlisle loves Ron-Ron and wouldn't mind coaching him again. The bait might be Josh Howard.

Howard has three years at a total of $34 million remaining on his contract, not to mention a bit of a public relations problem after admitting to imbibing in weed (but hey, only in the off season) and then performing poorly in the playoffs. On the other hand, the 20 pt., 7 reb. Howard would be a considerable upgrade over (say) John Salmons, albeit at better than twice the price.

Another spin (of my own mad creation) would be Artest and one of our 2nd round picks for Jerry Stackhouse (1 yr. @ $7 million) and Brandon Bass (1 yr. @ $800 thousand and a future 1st round pick (Dallas' #21 pick this year belongs to New Jersey via the Jason Kidd trade). Bass has some potential and the contract load of this deal is a non-issue.

Be sure to read Amick's entire article - find out how Ron may become the next Angela Tsai!

This quote from Ron-Ron seems to be getting much blogospheric attention:

First things first. I love Ron Artest. Love, love, love, love, love him. LOOOOOOOOOOVE HIM!!!

I also loved a woman prior to meeting and falling in love with Mrs. section214. And I loved her. Loved, loved, loved, loved her. LOOOOOOOOOOVED HER!!! Alas, the woman was not dependable and could not commit, and we eventually parted ways.

It's a dependability issue with Ron Artest as far as I am concerned. My fear is that Ron Artest will do a Fredo Corleone on me. You broke my heart, Ron-Ron, you broke my heart.

Ron Artest is also (when he plays) the best player on the Sacramento Kings. Bar none. Better than Kevin Martin, better than Brad Miller, better than the recently departed Mike Bibby.

Since Ron is our best player, I decided to run his dependability against some of the other best players in the league. This is a random sampling of a dozen of the game's best. Most have played longer than Ron, a couple as long, a few less than Ron. All of these guys played a significant amount in their rookie year, including Ron (72 games). The numbers are what they are, I was trying to prove to myself one way or the other whether or not Ron Artest was more or less or equally as dependable as the other players that he compares himself to.

My definition of dependable is simple. If there is a game, you play. This does not mean that you are a slacker or a mean person or a villain if you don't play, but it does mean that your team could not depend on you to suit up.

The formula is also simple. Games played by the player divided by the games that his team played during the regular season.

Out of fairness and curiosity, you will find two Ron Artest's on this list. Brawl suspension Ron (BS Ron) and no brawl suspension Ron (NBS Ron).  Also, "PSA" = per season average. That is, take the percentage of games played and multiply it by 82 games and you get the "PSA."

The list:

1. Kevin Garnett 97% games played, 79 PSA.
   
2. Dirk Nowitzki 97% GP, 79 PSA.
   
3. LeBron James 95% GP, 78 PSA.
   
4. Tim Duncan 95% GP, 78 PSA.
   
5. Carmelo Anthony 92% GP, 75 PSA.
   
6. Jason Kidd 92% GP, 75 PSA.
   
7. Kobe Bryant 91% GP, 74 PSA.
   
8. Steve Nash 90% GP, 74 PSA.
   
9. Allen Iverson 87% GP, 71 PSA.
   
10. Baron Davis 82% GP, 67 PSA.
    
11. Shaquille O'Neal 81%, 67 PSA.
    
12. NBS Ron Artest 81%, 66 PSA.
    
13. Dwayne Wade 81%, 66 PSA.
    
14. BS Ron Artest 73%, 60 PSA.

Now, I didn't use the next echelon of player, but if I did I might start with Vince Carter. Carter comes in at 85% / 70. Or his draft day trade partner Antawn Jamison (88% / 72).

Bottom line, the numbers tell me that Ron Artest is a risky investment. Numerically as risky as Shaq or D.Wade, though significantly cheaper at this moment.

On the flip side, these numbers show that Ron plays eight or fourteen fewer games per year than Kobe Bryant, twelve to eighteen fewer than Tim Duncan (depending on the Ron you choose, your mileage may vary). That's anywhere from 10% to 22% of the season. Is that a big deal?

For me, Ron Artest is simply too risky of an investment. Period. This is not where I want to spend the money. Good heavens, we were all in a panic about Spenecer Hawes' knee in preseason and we have next to nothing invested in him.

And it kills me that I feel this way. It kills me that I can't reasonably depend on Ron and his immense talent to propel this team back into the playoffs. He's the right age. He's ferocious on the court. I think all in all he is well liked by his teammates. I think he's probably a great guy. But can we depend on him?

Peja's star fell around here when he began to suffer injuries, when we could no longer depend on him. Peja, by the way? 82% GP / 67 PSA.

I love Ron. But I'm afraid Ron will Touch me in the morning, then just walk away.

I so want to be wrong about this, I really do. Ron Artest is a rare talent. I just can't see how we - how the Sacramento Kings - can ever depend on him.

Anybody have an opinion on this?

Ron-Ron told reporters this before the Charlotte game:

Seriously, it's a matter of us hyperextending our brains to sort out this whole rebuild thing as an army of living room GMs. When it comes to the games, we (usually) appreciate your game and ALWAYS appreciate your effort. No one plays harder.

We might disagree when it comes to whether the team should offer you $10 million a year. But we (unanimously, I think) appreciate your effort.


* I may not be able to keep this promise. You understand, right?

Read this and tell me you're in favor of keeping Ron Artest around.

It'd be one thing if we were gunning for a title -- as many other teams interested in Ron-Ron are -- but this is a young, impressionable roster with a new, unexperienced coach whose strength going forward looks to be his motivational and disciplinary skills. How on sweet Mother Earth can he keep control having to babysit like this?

I like Ron (as much as you can like someone like him). I like his game (most of the time). I think he's a stud player (in the right situation).

Notice those cautionary clauses? Those make me wake up hoping we got something for the guy. Also, they make me wish Ron-Ron's agent would stop talking to the Denver media about what Geoff Petrie's going to do.

(It also makes me wish Marcus Thompson III would come with something stronger than expirings and a draft pick. Free Brandan!)

Quincy Douby just doesn't have as much pull as he used to.

(Hint: Bring Reggie next time. You know these bouncers grew up on Hang Time.)

Every week or so, I come across a random quote which asserts (to me) Ron Artest really doesn't want to get traded. Here's the latest one:

There are varying opinions around here as to Artest's value out there; one thing we should be able to agree on: The suitors pool is one less as Miami is on the verge of giving up.

The Bee's Sam Amick talked with Ron Artest about his young ailing daughter. Basketball isn't very important sometimes.

As promised this summer, Ron Artest is fighting the length of his suspension stemming from his domestic violence arrest last spring. More accurately: The NBA Players Association is fighting the length of the suspension.

Something I hadn't seen reported before: The 'standard' suspension for domestic violence issues is three games. (How disturbing is it that there's a standard suspension length for beating your wife? Good God.) Ron, I assume, got a longer sentence because his track record.

I sincerely doubt the league will cave on this, and I'm positive the players association won't press this to arbitration. So expect 'John Salmons, NBA starter' for seven games to start the season.

Might as well be etched in an oak tree. From the Kings.com blog's summary of off-camera media questions to Kevin Martin last week: