Kobe and RonRon? Sounds like a great combo, but you think these guys will play together after the huge elbow and recent arguements these two have gotten in to. We all know RonRon won't take ish from no one. I'm excited to see how this team will unfold. In my opinion the Lakers are already good enough the way their team is built, they don't need RonRon to mess up the chemistry they got going in LA
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's the mindset that Ron Artest has apparently taken following today's news that he's agreed to join Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Artest was instrumental in helping the Rockets take the eventual champion Lakers to seven games during the Western Conference semifinals. Instead of serving as Kobe's antagonist, he'll become Kobe's sidekick.
According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports, Artest met with Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss and spoke with Phil Jackson on Thursday before instructing his agent to get a deal done. Details of the agreement -- both the length and the amount -- are still unknown, but from the sounds of it, Artest isn't about to quibble over the details.
"I don't really care about the money," Artest told Berger. "I'll play there for nothing. ... L.A. was very interested in me, and they got me."
The agreement was confirmed via Twitter by both the Los Angeles Daily News and Sacramento's 1140 AM (KHTK). Stay tuned as more details emerge.
Update: Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times confirms a deal is close.
Update: ESPN's Chris Broussard reports Artest will sign a three-year, $18 million deal. Three years is something of a magic number, as that's the minimum amount of time until the Lakers attain Bird Rights on Artest, which would allow them to go over the salary cap to re-sign him.
Ariza agreed to a five-year deal with the
Rockets for about $33 million, roughly the same that the Lakers had
offered in their effort to retain him.
Artest, who will be 30 in
November, enjoys the Los Angeles lifestyle and was a presence in the
courtside seats for some of the Lakers' games in the NBA Finals.
He
is still a formidable defender and averaged 17.1 points last season,
though he will to take a pay cut from the $7.4 million he made last
season because the Lakers don't have as much money at their disposal
when it comes to other teams' free agents.
The addition of Artest basically ended the Lakers' pursuit of Ariza, who met today with the Rockets.
"I understand that they did sign Ron Artest," Ariza said. "They did what they had to do. I understand it's a business."
Artest was also connected with other championship-caliber teams, including Cleveland and Orlando.