Puzzling. This deal is about 2 years too late. Peja has been pitiful lately, and he's a free agent at the end of the season. So most likely Indiana will have to overpay or let him walk for nothing. And it's not like Sacramento is going anywhere. Maybe they can make the playoffs, but then what? Even with Artest they aren't going to make any noise as a lower seed. I guess they get something in return for Peja who could have left as a Free agent, but I don't see Artest being in anyone's stable longterm plans.
...or S&T? I agree with those saying that Sac's moves of the last couple of years have been somewhat haphazard. Scattershot roster building. Evan
exactly. this is crap. i blame cory maggette for this. ron should have gone to the clippers to help out sam and cuttino. why peja? he sucks.
I kind of view it as potentially bad news for playoff hopes... a team outside of the playoffs and probably wasn't going to make it as-is has made a major change that could potentially "click" this year. We'll see. Hard to believe a team dead last in the conference is talking playoff hopes anyhow, but if T-Mac can stay healthy ...
Peja would have all right if it wasn't for his back problems even though he doesn't bring any defense. He is a good shooter but hasn't been doing too well this year. Artest will improve the Kings on the defensive end and could score as well if he can handle playing with Bibby. This obviously depends entirely on Artest's willingness to play.
Peja's stock is about as low as it can be right now. He's better than his current reputation though. I can see him possibly re-earning his rep next season or possibly this season with this new squad.
I'm neutral. If peja's back injury isn't serious and he returns to form, it's better than the Chris Mihm type deals that were apparently the alternative.
Unless Yao or Swift come back, we need to keep Baxter. He's the 2nd biggest guy currently healthy, behind Deke, so losing him means losing another big body to put up against centers.
Peja got his wish when the Kings traded Webber away and then he gets traded. my how things change in a year.
very interesting...Given Peja's injury, the Pacers won't be able to properly judge this trade until after he's had a full offseason to rehab his back. Of course, that means possibly overpaying him. It's obvious that Peja's not a first option type player. He needs a strong inside presence to be fully effective. Injury or not, he's still one of the deadliest outside shooters in the NBA. My guess is that he'll go on a tear after the all star break and get a fat deal from the Pacers. As for the Pacers, they'll actually benefit from Artest's offense more than his defense, I think. Defense is a team concept, and adding one good defensive player doesn't really affect team defense a lot. They need somebody that can drive to the basket and get to the foul line, which Artest can do well...
Great deal for the Kings. Artest has his chance to re-prove his worth. The Kings replace Peja's scoring and add defensive toughness. Don't be surprised now to see them get the 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs. The way Bibby and Miller have played for them lately, those guys will continue to play in Sacto unis. If we wanted to land Kenny Thomas or Shareef Abdur-Rahim with Wesley's expiring contract + our 1st rounder (let's face it, Sacramento doesn't need both), then I can see that as a possibility, IF we have other plans for Stromile or Juwan.
This is interesting. Peja has reportedly been unhappy in Sacramento for quite some time (since Turkuglu and Divac have been gone) and that could have as much to do with his decline in output as Webber leaving. In fact, I think it's a bigger factor because Peja actually emerged as a star when Webber was injured. If he's excited to play for the Pacers and they can resign him, this may be a very good deal for them. I could see him being excited about playing with Sarunas Jaskievius too. Now Artest to the Kings is just puzzling to me. First of all, Peja was as close as they had to a go to guy. I don't like SAR as a go to guy. I don't like Bibby or Bonzi as go to guys. So now Artest is going to be their go to guy? That'll be interesting. What I find most interesting though is pairing two of the leagues biggest nut cases together in Ron Ron and Bonzi. Throw in Shareef "I don't know what it even feels like to win a regular season game" Abdur-Rahim, and well, it just seems like a recipe for disaster to me. It'll be interesting to see which way it goes.
BREAKING NEWS: Sacremento has backed out of this deal after Ron Artest refused to come to Sacremento. This deal is off.
Don't know how true this is, but on Sportscenter, they were talking to Stephen A Smith about Ronnie not wanting to go to Sacremento. After that segment, Dan Patrick said that Jim Gray just told him that Sacramento is now pulling the deal off the table because he doesn't want to go....Stay tuned!
