Posted by TMS:

if he's willing to sign for just a 1 or 2 year deal let's say so he can be in NY while his daughter receives treatment for her illness, why the hell not? the guy is a winner, makes clutch shots & is a solid perimeter defender... if we can make a 3 for 1 type trade for Artest or 1 of the other talked about options to start at the 3, we can open up a roster spot for him to join the team... he'd be a solid addition... you can offer up Nate, Dickau & Jones to SAC for Artest & clear up the glut at the G spots for Fisher to have a role on this team.

anyone see a reason why Sac wouldn't do this trade ? How much do they expect to get for Artest ? Seriously, I think they are reaching trying to obtain Lee, especially when he is on the record stating that he will opt-out and sign with the knicks. No way I could defend IT in any trade sending Lee for artest.

Posted by Michael6835:

Posted by TMS:

if he's willing to sign for just a 1 or 2 year deal let's say so he can be in NY while his daughter receives treatment for her illness, why the hell not? the guy is a winner, makes clutch shots & is a solid perimeter defender... if we can make a 3 for 1 type trade for Artest or 1 of the other talked about options to start at the 3, we can open up a roster spot for him to join the team... he'd be a solid addition... you can offer up Nate, Dickau & Jones to SAC for Artest & clear up the glut at the G spots for Fisher to have a role on this team.

anyone see a reason why Sac wouldn't do this trade ? How much do they expect to get for Artest ? Seriously, I think they are reaching trying to obtain Lee, especially when he is on the record stating that he will opt-out and sign with the knicks. No way I could defend IT in any trade sending Lee for artest.

would you be willing to throw in Wilson Chandler if SAC isn't interested in that package?

i would not give up D Lee, Balkman or Mardy... those are guys I want to hold onto unless we're using them in a package to nab Kobe.

I honestly don't think we will ever get Kobe. LA will want the entire farm for Kobe and then we are back at square one without any space or pieces to get additional help.

I actually think the Artest deal makes them more of a contender than the Kobe Deal. (here me out)

As mentioned we will have to pretty much gut the team to get kobe vs giving up a few expiring deals in addition to one of our young prospects. Artest makes us a legitimate contender to be in the east finals. We never had a problem putting up points, it was all defense and mental toughness. He adds that to our team while we still manage to keep most of the core. Who cares about his image, this is the NYK, mental problems are mandatory.

Posted by Michael6835:

I honestly don't think we will ever get Kobe. LA will want the entire farm for Kobe and then we are back at square one without any space or pieces to get additional help.

I actually think the Artest deal makes them more of a contender than the Kobe Deal. (here me out)

As mentioned we will have to pretty much gut the team to get kobe vs giving up a few expiring deals in addition to one of our young prospects. Artest makes us a legitimate contender to be in the east finals. We never had a problem putting up points, it was all defense and mental toughness. He adds that to our team while we still manage to keep most of the core. Who cares about his image, this is the NYK, mental problems are mandatory.

i understand your arguments here, & it's a fair one... but let's say you can get Artest for the expirings & Nate &/or Chandler, & sign Derek Fisher to a portion of the MLE, who Kobe played with in LA & won titles together... then next season, Kobe demands to be traded to NY because he can't take playing in LA anymore (a big IF, but possible nonetheless)... then you still have assets like Balkman, Mardy & D Lee to give up for him along w/guys like Curry, Crawford & Malik's expiring to make the dollars match.

Kobe had a hardon for the Lakers to trade for Artest last year, didn't he? if the Knicks can get Artest, it would take a lot of load off Kobe's shoulders on the defensive side of the ball... he's an elite defender also if he wants to be... who cares if you give up the farm to get Kobe in that scenario? we're talking about the best player in the NBA here who's in the prime of his career & has won multiple championships... you'd be looking at this if that all went down:

C - MLE free agent / Turd
PF - Zach / Radmanovich (likely to be included in any Kobe deal)
SF - Artest / Chandler or Nichols
SG - Kobe / Jamal or Q Rich
PG - Marbury / Fisher (if they sign him this season)

Cot dayam, if we could field that team, I would shut my mouth forever about cap ramifications, I'll tell u that right now.

better than Jeffries and balkman

^agreed. Lee will not be traded for anyone less than a KG or Kobe.