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*Oh Laker fans (and haters) are you ready for this? Ron Artest is joining Kobe Bryant in Lakerland. Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza is headed to Houston.
*Oh Laker fans (and haters) are you ready for this? Ron Artest is joining Kobe Bryant in Lakerland. Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza is headed to Houston.
Apparently Artest, the Houston Rockets forward, has verbally agreed to get with the current world champions, according to his agent, David Bauman. The final details were still being worked out as of EUR press time.
The LA Times also says the two sides are close to reaching a deal, probably for the full mid-level exception, roughly five years and $32 million. Bauman would not confirm numbers, saying the deal was still being negotiated.
The 29-year-old, 6-foot-7 forward earned $7.4 million in his only season with Houston, averaging 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists. The 2004 Defensive Player of the Year was also a rugged 1-on-1 defender, often assigned to guard the opponent's most dynamic scorer.
Bauman said Artest was looking for a championship-caliber team when he became an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday and the Lakers were one of his top choices.
"He wants to win a ring," Bauman said. "He's a winner and a hard worker and he went looking for a team with whom he could find some justification for what he does. He plays his best when he's in that kind of an environment."
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Trevor Ariza
Earlier Thursday, Bauman said Artest was being courted by several teams that made the playoffs last season and received text messages from unspecified "superstars" who were trying to lure him to their cities. Bauman would not say if Bryant was one of those players, but acknowledged on Thursday night that their friendship was a factor in Artest's decision.
We find this interesting that Artest is coming to Lakers to play with Kobe seeing as how they didn't seem to get along very well during the playoff this year as the Rockets pushed the Lakers to 7 games.
Artest and Bryant often mouthed off at one another and Artest was ejected from one game for confronting a referee and claiming that Bryant elbowed him in the neck.
Interestingly the Lakers' Trevor Ariza will essentially switch places with Artest because he has reached a multi-year deal with the Rockets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The AP on Thursday night.
The 6-foot-8 Ariza averaged 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Lakers last season, which ended with the NBA championship.
The 24-year-old Ariza earned $3.1 million last season and he boosted his value during the playoffs, when he averaged 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Watch Artest on ESPN explain why he chose the Lakers:
