Ron Artest in Los Angeles?: Lakers Midsummer Report

There hasn't been much chatter coming out of the Lakers' front office this offseason. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the team isn't up to anything.

Ronny Turiaf will probably become a member of the Golden State Warriors before the week is over. That isn't such a bad thing if the team, as rumor has it, is interested in bringing in Ron Artest.

Since the Kings are in no rush to trade Artest, the only way to make them an offer they instantly can't refuse is by taking on the remaining two years of Kenny Thomas' contract.

Thomas is due a little less than $17 million over the next two seasons. That's a lot of money to give a guy that's missed 79 games over the last two years—especially when it wasn't injuries that kept him out of most of those games.

What does that say about a guy when he can't make the active roster on a team that finished with the fifth-worst record in the Western Conference?

The question for the Lakers now is whether or not they can move another contract along with Lamar Odom's so that they won't have to pay a luxury tax dollar for every dollar on Thomas' contract.

Why would the Kings trade with one of their rivals, especially one within their division? Because if the Lakers were to take back Thomas' contract, the Kings would be one of the biggest spenders amongst next year's free agent class. They'd have double-digit millions to spend. If they can convince Shareef Abdur-Rahim to retire, his contract would come off of their cap next season as well, making them even bigger players.

The Lakers' roster can be divided up into three sub-divisions: guys they won't trade, guys they can't trade, and guys they don't want to trade but might just have to trade.

We know the guys they won't trade: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Derek Fisher. The only reason Fisher is on the list is because you can't trade a guy that came to town for less money just so he could get adequate health care for his daughter. With little depth at point guard, they'd also be dumb to trade him, because it would open up another hole for them to fill.

The guys they can't trade list is made up of guys that nobody wants either because of lack of talent, a horrible contract, or both. We're talking about Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton.

The last list, or the guys they don't want to trade but just might have to, is made up of Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, and Sasha Vujacic.

I know Sasha Vujacic is a free agent. But what the first few weeks of free agency have taught us is that it doesn't look like anyone will sign Vujacic for much more than the Lakers' qualifying offer of $2.6 million. If he signs an offer sheet for anything close to that the Lakers will probably match it, but at this point it looks like Vujacic might be better off taking the qualifying offer and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

If that's the case, then the Lakers just might have the necessary piece to trade that would allow them to take on Thomas' contract. Odom and Vujacic (should he take the qualifying offer) would be due to make a combined $17.2 million next season. Thomas and Artest are due to make a combined $17.6 million next season. So the deal wouldn't cost them much financially next season.

The Lakers would then exercise their option on Coby Karl's contract that would give them a replacement outside shooter for less than $2 million with the luxury tax.

The only caveat is that by allowing the trade, Vujacic would have to relinquish his Bird Rights. But with the money that the Kings would be saving by getting rid of Thomas' deal, combined with the fact that so many teams are trying to save money for the summer of 2010, Vujacic couldn't ask for a better team to be traded to. He would also be united with his fellow Slovenian, Beno Udrih.

The Lakers would much rather give up Vujacic than either Farmar or Ariza. The loss of Farmar would send them scrambling to find a backup point guard, and the loss of Ariza would cost them one of their better on-ball defenders.

Where Thomas' contract would really hurt them is the following season. Right now the Lakers have looming contract extensions due next summer to Ariza, Bynum, and possibly Artest. Don't forget that Kobe also has the ability to opt out and sign a new six-year deal.

Even if Kobe doesn't opt out, the 2009-10 season could see the Lakers paying $23 million to Kobe,  $16.5 million to Gasol, at least $10 million to Artest, another $10 million to Bynum, $8.5 million to Thomas, $6.5 million to Radmanovic, $5 million to Fisher, $5 million to Walton, let's say $4 million to Ariza, and another $2 million to Farmar. That's a little over $90 million for 10 players.

There are a few scenarios the Lakers could explore to relieve themselves next summer. They could try to trade Radmanovic's contract to a team with the cap space to absorb it. Although this scenario is unlikely, it won't be as farfetched next season when Radmanovic only has two years left on his deal.

They could opt to let Trevor Ariza walk in free agency. This would not only save them money on Ariza's contract, but would also save them on the luxury tax.

The last option, and the one that seems most realistic, is convince Kobe to do what Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan did—opt out of his current deal and take a pay cut in exchange for a longer deal.

Garnett is slated to make about $25 million next season but will take a pay cut to about $16.5 million in 2010 and about $19 million in 2011 before going back up to about $21 million in 2012.

Duncan is making about $20.5 million next year and $22 million the following season, but his contract goes down to about $19 million before going back up to $21.5 million.

Kobe could rip up his current deal and sign for six years, starting at about $17 or $18 million in 2009-10 and then increase each of the following seasons. This would allow the Lakers some relief for the 2009-10 season by making Thomas' contract less of a liability and allowing them to re-sign Ariza.

So if you're a Laker fan, or a fan of one of the many teams that don't want to see them acquire Artest, then pay attention to the following—does Ronny Turiaf end up a Warrior? Does Sasha Vujacic accept the Lakers' qualifying offer? Does Shareef Abdur-Rahim retire?

Don't expect the Lakers to offer their mid-level exception to anyone now that James Posey is a member of the New Orleans Hornets. They could offer a portion of their mid-level to someone—or, more likely, they could offer their bi-annual exception, around $1.9 million, to someone like Alonzo Mourning, Devin Brown, Matt Barnes or Fred Jones.