Artest–Ariza Swap Adds More Drama to NBA Off-Season

Only a few days after I was predicting how an Ariza departure would be surprisingly costly to the Lakers, they signed Ron Artest. Bryant and Artest have a chippy history, but all their minor quarrels were due to the fact that they’re equally hungry and competitve. Luckily for Artest he’s now teaming up with Bryant, because the four time NBA champion came out on top in the majority of their matchups. Artest was flirting with the Cavs just hours before he became a Laker, which may add more fuel to the “23/24″ rivalry. 

Trevor Ariza, who was rumored to be in talks with many teams, signed with the Rockets. The seperate free agent moves were essentially a trade between the two clubs, and the Lakers know they made out much better.

Artest is a physical, lockdown defender while Ariza is just riding a hot playoff run. You’ve heard the the term “product of the system” in other sports, and I think Ariza was a great example of that last season.

Not to knock the guy, because he’s athletic and can hit the occasional three, I’m just not sure if he’ll become this year’s James Posey. Even if he is, Posey didn’t exactly turn out how New Orleans front office was hoping last season.

After a decommitment from Hedo Turkoglu with Portland, the Toronto Raptors are having a festive holiday weekend. Turkoglu is certainly a step up from Ariza because of his shooting abilities and his size alone.

Look for him and Chris Bosh to work well together in Toronto, but I, myself, am not expecting much.

Turkoglu said he wanted to be in a more international city like Toronto, but if he would have landed in Portland, the Western Conference would have had even greater depth than the past two seasons.

After all is said and done, we’ll remember LA’s signing of Ron Artest as the best off-season move as he’s another head to the Hollywood Hydra Monster that is the Lakers.

Artest and Kobe may become one of, if not the best, defending/scoring backcourt duos in the NBA. We already know the Lakers have the best trio of big men in the league. Scary.

Where do the LeBrons factor in all this action? Well we know about the acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, but don’t be surprised if King James tells the front office to bring in another guard to counter the Artest move to SoCal. He’s got to be a little jealous of Kobe, right?

Thanks for intriguing us, 2009 off-season. What’s next: Iverson to Miami? Memphis? Keep it coming.