5 Years, 34 million. Welcome Home!
"I'm definitely going to L.A. -- to sign, yeah," Artest said in a phone interview. "Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. I'm in L.A. right now.""I don't really care about the money," Artest said. "I'll play there for nothing. ... L.A. was very interested in me, and they got me."
Talk about being in upside down land, Artest won't be jawing with Kobe on the floor, which is a sight that I enjoyed seeing.
I really liked this signing and frankly, this is a move I've wanted to see for a few years now. Nothing needs to be said about Artest being a fantastic perimeter defender, something the Lakers have been lacking for some time now (aside from Kobe). He can match up better than Ariza can against the likes of Carmelo and Paul Pierce and this spares some of Kobe's energy for crunch time, not that he needs it anyway. On the offensive end, he's not that great of a passer and he's a very streaky perimeter shooter, but I think this changes some when Kobe and Pau are first and second options, with Odom capable of creating his own opportunities.
Likewise, too bad to see Ariza go, but I'd be hard-pressed to see the Lakers pay over the mid-level exception on a guy who blossomed last year although he's not quite the well-rounded player Artest is.
Did anyone see his awesome "I'm So Gutta" hat last night??