USA basketball=teh suck

yeah I knew about Jackson.  The prob with Peja is that his offense can be shut down, he\'s not a real scorer like a Tmac, Kobe or the likes.  When someone plays hard nosed D on him, he backs down and can\'t score unless he has 2 screens set and no help defense.  Artest is a consistent defender, and a decent offensive player.  The Kings have lots of scorers, Mainly Bibby and Webber (Webber....ugh....) but Doug and Bjax are the only defenders.  With Artest in there, the whole soft image of the Kings is gone, he could spark something in the players and maybe they could play some hardnosed basketball.  He\'s an emotional intense player and that definetly is something Peja lacks.

Peja is a great player, much like Artest, but we have scoring but no D, Indy needs scoring so it seems like a mutually beneficial trade.

*edit
when comparing them though, they are opposites.  They are hard to compare, because what Artest does on the court can\'t be put into stats.  None the less, usually a players merit is based on stats, and on the O side, Peja dominates Ron.

I don\'t see how Peja dominates Ron...Artest scored 18ppg last year.  Peja scored like 23ppg.  I\'d rather have a guy that does all the little things and is intense on defense than a guy that demands trades because his best friend signed elsewhere.  We got Stephen Jackson, if you combine Stephen Jackson\'s ability to hit big shots and his underrated defense with Artest who is starting to become much better on offense every year and his intense defense, its going to be hard to beat the Pacers.  Why would you **** with something that got you 61 wins last year?

In my opinion the Pacers were just one block from making the NBA Finals, the infamous block by Tayshaun Prince that made Reggie Miller looked washed up.  That block changed the entire momentum of that series and the Pacers never recovered.  The injury to Jermaine O\'Neal also hurt, and the fact that the Pistons are a damn good team didn\'t hurt the Piston\'s cause either.

The pistons didnt play the same intensity in the pacers series. And though the got Jackson, you cant forget they traded Harrington for him. And the pacers did pick up a needed center in the draft. Overall they had a good offseason, but I still think it will be the heat and pistons in the semifinals.

here\'s the rumored trade;

Sac sends;
Peja
Bjax

Indy trades;
Artest
Bender
Croshere

Bjax wants to start and will leave for a new team when his contract is up.  Bender is a possible great talent but has yet to show it.  And Croshere has a monster contract.  Pretty decent trade for both teams.

BTW, this comes from Mark Cuban so take it at that.

If thats the deal sacremento is getting screwed.

I don\'t think so, I\'m going to call Artest vs Peja even as they both have their high and low points, but fit the other team better than their current.

Bender & Croshere vs Bjax
Bobby is a great pg, but like said before once his contract is up he\'s gone.  Also, he\'ll always be a back up on the kings.  Bender will probably back up Artest, but has the ability to start and have Artest play the OG and Christie to come off the bench and cover the1/2.  Croshere...decent bench player, but huge contract.  Though, if BMiller is any example as to what can happen to a player in the Sacto system, Croshere might do really well off the bench.

The Knicks got Jamal Crawford

*crickets*

good pickup, and they got rid of that stiff Mutumbo (remembers the old days of a finger wagging, shot blocking, rebounding sumbitch who played for the Hawks)

I didn\'t mind Mutumbo.  He played well considering how little we were giving him.  Jersey was still paying for about all of his contract.  Either way though, the backcourt of Crawford, Houston, and Marbury sounds damn good to me.

Going a little off topic here:  Anyone want to see Shaq injury himself this year?  Because he is the only NBA player I cannot stand at all.

this is the latest news/rumor

Peja trade for Artest and James Jones

decent trade, though I like Bender and would like to get him.

Originally posted by square_marker
Going a little off topic here:  Anyone want to see Shaq injury himself this year?  Because he is the only NBA player I cannot stand at all.

No, but I do wanna see Kobe convicted.

anyone else hear that Lebron is now 6\'10?  I saw a pic of him next to Duncan, and I\'ll be damned if he\'s not damn near the same height.  Lebron at near 7\'...Scary

Duncan ownz... better than Garnett

Originally posted by shockwaves
No, but I do wanna see Kobe convicted.

I can settle for that