NDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers have agreed to trade Ron Artest to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Peja Stojakovic pending league approval, ESPN's Jim Gray has confirmed Tuesday.
The deal closes a chapter in the Pacers' latest drama involving the volatile star forward.
Kings owners Gavin and Joe Maloof on ESPNEWS would not comment directly on ESPN's report that the Kings pending league approval will trade Peja Stojakovic to the Pacers for Ron Artest.
Artest was a key component to a team that was expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown. He led the league in steals and was the Pacers' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points a game before being deactivated after publicly requesting a trade in early December.
In five years with the Pacers, Artest was an All-Star once and was the NBA's defensive player of the year in 2003-04.
Pacers GM Larry Bird said the Pacers had been interested in Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers, but there was "no question" that Maggette's sprained left foot affected the process. Maggette averaged 21.7 points in 13 games before getting injured in early December.
The Pacers have lost four of their last five games, including Monday to the Atlanta Hawks, who have the NBA's worst record.
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I like the trade myself, and I have hopes this will spark both teams.
(edited by Matt Tracker on 24.1.06 1259) "To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I, also, would have preferred to get Maggette (in fact, true story-- in both NBA Live '03 and '04, one of the very first things I did was trade Artest for Maggette-- and Maggette proceeded to become the second-highest scoring player in the league), but Stojakovic isn't bad, isn't bad at all. Please let it be true. This team needs direction and it needs it now!
(edited by ekedolphin on 24.1.06 1812) "Yes, the new plan will still involve rocket skates." --Nale, The Order of the Stick
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Steven A just said on Sportscenter that Artest "absolutely does not want to be there" and "will try to force a trade from Sacramento". He also said Artest would rather be in Golden State than Sacramento, and that the deal is not yet complete.
This is going to turn out great for the Kings.
EDIT: And that quickly Dan Patrick says the Kings have rejected the deal.
(edited by BigSteve on 24.1.06 1804) He's got that hand-waving deal. He can become INVISIBLE! This means MONEY, Dawg! - AWARulz on Cena.
Wait a second. Ron Artest is being traded - to the Kings. Sportscenter reports that the deal is back on.
I enjoyed the clips on Sportscenter showing all of Artest's misdeeds in the past. I had totall forgotten that he wanted to take time off to promote his CD. The funniest part is that when I saw that I actually thought to myself "Man, that's when Artest was sane".
He's got that hand-waving deal. He can become INVISIBLE! This means MONEY, Dawg! - AWARulz on Cena.
Woo! Hit the road Jack, and don'cha come back no more, no more, no more, no more, hit the road Jack, and don'cha come back no more.
Did we get the best "talent-for-talent" trade out there? Probably not. But we did gain someone who can shoot the long ball, and more importantly we finally got Artest the hell out of Indy so that maybe, hopefully, the Pacers can concentrate on winning games again.
"Words like fumigate come up when people try to explain why GMs trade him."
Artest is a saint compared to Wells.
I finished reading that article, and there was this gem about 2004 Nextel Cup Champion Kurt Busch:
When everything went Busch’s way on the track in 2004, the press began to think that maybe he’d grown up. “That was always our spin with him: He has matured,” says our Roush source.
“But after winning the championship, at our team dinner, with wives and other guests present and the whole extravaganza being put on by NASCAR, his toast was ‘To NASCAR—they can lick my salty balls!’ Like I say, unrepentant.”
That's FUNNY.
"You know what you need? Some new quotes in your sig. Yeah, I said it." -- DJFrostyFreeze
Thread ahead: Chris "Birdman" Andersen Flies High - and Out of the League Next thread: Raptors fans rejoice! Rob Babcock gets the ax! Previous thread: Isiah: "I'm gonna tell ya ... if I see this guy Bill Simmons, oh, it's gonna be a problem"
Former NBA power forward Brian Grantannounced that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in January-- the same condition afflicting Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, and, incidentally, my grandmother.
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