yeah whos your power forward gonna be then mr.clutch luke walton hahahahahahahahahahahahhaha

The deal is:

L.A. Lakers would get Ron Artest & Jalen Rose

Pacers would get Devean George & Lamar Odom

Raptors would get Anthony Johnson, Scot Pollard, Stanislav Medvedenko

If I'm Donnie I do this in a heartbeat. Pairing Odom and JO together is nice. Starting five of Tinsley, Sarunas, Jackson, Odom and JO will get it done in the East. Not yet Piston-league, but very nice.

Raps want to get rid of Rose's horror contract so they can hopefully resign Bosh, and Phil likes tall guards, and Rose's contract expires in 2007. Stan's back in gone and could get waived while Johnson is a nice young PG.

Indy Star reporter Mark Montieth was on WNDE 1260 radio in Indianapolis this afternoon and said that the report about Ron Artest and Jalen Rose going to the Lakers is not likely and that it was a case of "poor journalism."
Montieth went on to say that a trade with Denver was more likely, with Nene being the centerpiece of the deal. It sounds like Artest will be moved in the next two to three days, but Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird aren't about to tip their hand as to what they are working on. As for the Jalen and Artest to the Lakers story, it's still a possibility, but it doesn't sound probable as of right now. If nothing else, it sure livened up the basketball world today. Dec. 29 - 4:37 pm et

mr c, I'm more in belief of the Denver trade than the lakers deal. Donnie would be mad to get George for Artest. Still thinking three-way with the Hawks, involving Nene, Watson and Harrington.

Of interest, there is talk that the Nugs may sent Watson to Seattle for Flip.

well im living in hope. i wouldnt be surprised if golden state became part of the deal. i heard indiana are interested in ike diogu

cheezeburger...while I doubt the deal will happen, the Lakers would basically be trading 2 small fowards. Odom hasn't play PF hardly at all for the Lakers this season. That has mostly been played by Brian Cook and Kwame Brown. Hardly a great combo, but Odom has only really played the PF spot when Devean George or Luke Walton and himself have been on the floor at the same time.

Lakers would be stupid to let go of Odom. But they did let Shaq go, so who knows.

This will leave the Lakers with such reliable (sarcasm) options at PF as Kwame Brown and Brian Cook. Cook would probably start so that Brown can be a substitute for either him or Mihm (good rhyme there), because Bynum wouldn't be ready for big minutes as a backup yet surely.
And I'm sure Anthony Johnson is loving being a "nice young" 31 year-old PG.

Young can be defined in playtime ;)

I didn't realise he was that old. my bad.

Expert Lakers Analysis...that is a fairly good description of the Lakers PF rotation 90% of the time WITH Odom on the Lakers roster, so I don't see that aspect of the unlikely trade having much impact one way or the other on the Lakers fortune.

Well I'm sure the Lakers will need to keep that similar big man rotation in terms of the Bynum playing time even without Odom, because it seems like they want to bring Ronny Turiaf back in late January. But you never know what tricks Phil Jackson has up his sleeve. He could be planning a Bynum - Brown - Profit - Wafer - Vujacic lineup for all we know hehehe

ELA, you forgot the trade that Jackson has up his sleeve to play with that awesome lineup of Bynum, Brown, Profit, Wafer and Vujacic....

Kobe for the entire Knicks team, and the Lakers still get robbed.

if kobe was to get injured, how much do you rekon they would lose by 40 50 60......?

the point is the lakers have the worst squad in the league followed by toronto followed by atlanta.

cheeze you tool, their record is 15 and 14, i'd hardly compare them to atlanta who are yet again looking to trade of one of there young prospects in al harrington.

As good a player as Ron Artest is, I don't think Atlanta should trade for him. As the trade would likely be Al Harrington-Ron Artest, this would leave the Hawks 3 main players of the future (26 year-old Artest, and 20 year-olds Josh Smith and Marvin Williams) all being natural SFs. I know they'll probably put Williams at PF and Artest at SG to score his 30 a game that he wants to, but the Hawks do really need a starting point guard rather than another swingman, even if he is All-Star caliber.

Um, to be honest I do agree with Cheeze, the Lakers squad is very very ordinary. Take Kobe out of the line up and your looking at a 25 win season.

If Kobe was a non-factor for either Lakers or Atlanta I'd be taking the Hawks roster over the Kobe-less Laker roster everytime.

Kobe has carried the Lakers to their 15 wins.

Obviously the Lakers have the better record (possibly because the West is slightly weaker), but I agree that if you take Kobe out of the equation, the Hawks team is more talented.

The West is weaker? There is far more parity between the conferences than there was 5 years ago, but I wouldn't call the West weaker.

I did say "possibly" and "slightly", so even I'm not sure. It could just be that teams in the West (Seattle, Houston and Sacramento come to mind) haven't been as good as they were projected to be at the beginning of the season.

True, but balanced out perhaps by teams like Memphis, Clippers & Warriors being much better than projected.

The west weaker.......you are a F-Wit ELA

Total win-loss comparison here

East (Total records as of today)

196 Wins - 217 Losses.... .475% AVG


West

221 Wins - 200 Losses... .525% AVG


Clearly the West have a better AVG Win, also.....as of today....how many WEST teams are below .300%.....NONE

How many in the EAST......3

You are a NUMB NUT LAKERS ANALYSIS

And to think we have Laker Fans like you

Yea but remember that the most of the West's win percentage comes from PLAYING EACH OTHER. I'm not saying the West is bad and all that, I just feel that once the playoffs come around, there will be more genuine title contenders in the East. I mean really, nobody thinks the Grizzlies, Clippers or Warriors have a SERIOUS chance at the championship do they? I'd say once the playoffs come, the Spurs will reign in the West. I'm just trying to be realistic here.

You can't compare simple win / loss stats as saying which conference is stronger. That's dumb. There are so many things to take into consideration if you through dumbass stats around like that.

You need to compare which teams have had the easier schedule against lower ranked teams, which teams have played more at home, which teams have done the West Coast trip or the Texas triangle, which teams have played more back-to-backs.

Yeah, there is greater parity/disparity in the Eastern Conference, but at the end of the day each conference has 8 teams above .500, and who really gives a damn about your winning % if you miss the playoffs, unless your tanking for the No 1 pick.

If the playoffs started today who would win it all....... the Pistons in a landslide. The Spurs ain't clicking at the moment. The suns without Amare, nope, and the defenceless Mavs, nope.

I can only see one team in the West with the potential to take it all, the Spurs, in the East I see the Heat and Pistons battling it out.

End of the day, we are only 1/3 of the way into the season, a knee injury here or there changes everything. Kobe does a knee, the Lakers are looking at a top 5 lottery pick. Big Ben goes down with spinal problems due to the weight of his hair, the Tons are in trouble, Duncan breaks an ankle, goodbye Spurs.

Oh, the Eastern Conference has the most competetive division in the NBA, have a look at the Central.

Well said TR, my feelings exactly

Kobe does a knee? We can only hope.

Expert Lakers Analysis...It doesn't matter if there were more serious title contenders in the East than the West come playoff time. We are talking about it be easier or harder for the Lakers compared to the Raptors/Hawks because of who they face more, the Lakers against more Western Conference teams or the Raptors/Hawks against more Eastern Conference teams. It's a question of regular season schedules.

Besides, the East has two true championship contenders - Miami & Detroit. That's it. Injuries aside, you can almost guarantee they will be in the Eastern Conference Finals. The West has the Spurs & Suns. The landscape of the NBA hasn't changed much since last year. Outsiders in the East are Cleveland & Indiana, but the Cavs are too young and there has to be reservations about the Pacers as to who they get in return for Artest and how it will fit in together. Outsiders in the West are probably Dallas.

So, maybe there is one more true title contender in the East than the West, but if I was to bet I would say the Conference Finals will be the same match ups as last year.

Anon, first things first, All-Star fan voting is a popularity contest, not an indication of who is playing great ball, just ask Chauncey Billups.

To prove how stupid it is Amare has 143,140 votes compared to the Matrix who only has 129,333. Who's carrying the Suns (along with Nash) this season????

Yao gets in due to popularity not skill.

If it was based on this year, Camby should be starting (before the finger injury). Mind you the West is weak at the Centre after Yao and Camby on the ballot papers. This means Brad Miller should get the nod as back-up centre if Camby can't suit up.

Jas, I agree with 99.98% of your post, but until Amare can prove he is over his bung knee and playing to the calibre of last season the Suns are not a true challenger for the title.

Easier or harder, doesn't really matter, you can only play the team next on your schedule. Any team taking a night off is gonna lose regardless of you playing the pistons or the bobcats (go cats!!!). Go ask the Spurs and they can tell you all about losing to the Cats and Hawks.

well now we have the perfect oppourtunity to see how the lakers do without kobe now that he has been suspended for 2 games

Fortunately, both those games are against the Jazz. The Lakers might be able to pull one of the two out.

What'd Kobe get suspended for?

for elbowing mike miller in the throat, kobe denied that it was intentional. he said it was just a hard foul to prevent an easy bucket

He says that even though Miller had already passed the ball. It was a cheap shot and he is lucky he was only suspended for 2 games.

Kobe deserves to be suspended and I think two games is about right when you consider Wade got nothing for a similar incident against the Lakers on Christmas Day. Kobe's elbow wasn't twice as bad as Wade's, which was left as a flagrant foul.

But now the media is running with more Kobe-Is-The-Devil stories including a run in between Kobe & Odom after the loss to the Wizards despite the fact that the LA Times reported the story 4 days ago and it went ignored by national media until the suspicion. But now the run in was much uglier, apparently. Funny what happens to a story when it sits in ESPN's draw for a week. The fact that the two players, who are normally actually friends, called it more a disagreement and certainly not a physical fight will only fall into the "They Would Say That, Wouldn't' They" box.

Ah well, let's see if they can go 1-1. I'll be happy with that.

Happy new year all. Go Sixers!

even though artest is one of the best talents in the league, it would be a bad trade for any team coz hes just to destructive to team moral