Points in the Paint

» July 2, 2009 7:22 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Ron Artest says he’s signing with the Lakers. Given Ron-Ron’s recent behavior, I’m going to take this report with a grain of salt. Though I’m a Ron Artest believer. He was a model citizen last season, and remains one of the league’s elite defenders. Pairing Artest with All-NBA defender Kobe Bryant would give Phil Jackson the same type of defensive options he enjoyed with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Those two — combined with a healthy Andrew Bynum patrolling the paint — would transform the Lakers into the league’s top defensive team. But there are downsides as well. Signing Artest marks the end of Trevor Ariza’s time in LA. Ariza, who is six years younger than Artest, is a much better shooter, and carries far less baggage. Jonathan Feigen at the Houston Chronicle reports Artest’s time with the Rockets is over.

The Celtics have offered Rasheed Wallace a contract. CelticsHub and 48 Minutes of Hell (Spurs) contemplate Wallace’s value.

Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “From Athens to Milwaukee and back to Atlanta, the name Josh Childress is being tossed around in every direction these days. Childress is in Milwaukee today visiting the Bucks with his agent, Jim Tanner. What that means for the Hawks is that they might get a do-over with Childress, a restricted free agent again this summer as he was last summer. Last summer they lost him as an asset when he chose to sign with Greek power Olympiakos (for $20 million post taxes). What the Hawks didn’t lose was the right of first refusal on Childress if he decided to return to the NBA this summer. And two of my spies have made it clear that were Childress to receive any sort of ‘reasonable’ NBA offer (the $5.6 million mid-level exception or below), the Hawks would match it before Childress finished signing his name on the offer sheet (the aim, however, is to work out a sign-and-trade deal to appease both sides since Childress has made clear his desire to play elsewhere, per a source).”

Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball pens an open letter to Piston fans: “This is a guy who needs to be hitting his shots to be effective. Remember when I mentioned him and Rasheed Wallace in the same sentence earlier? I did that because as fun as it may have been to can the occasional three, I’m sure it was frustrating for a lot of you that he would so often settle for those with all that talent he had. Well imagine having a player with more offensive talent (not compared to Sheed at 25, but Sheed at 300 or whatever he is) do the same thing and shoot an even worse percentage on threes. That is what you’re in for. Oh, and the comparison also had nothing to do with their defense. This is where Pistons fans are really in for something. Bucks coaches have been fond over the years of saying they like to bring Villanueva in off the bench to ‘provide a spark’ or ‘give us instant offense.’ That is NBA code for he is a terrible defender. It doesn’t even really make sense. He seems to try most of the time and he has pretty good athletic ability, but I’ve seen him get abused time and time again by numerous power forwards. His poor positioning and timing on defense usually lead to quick fouls and erratic performances when he’s lifted early in the game.”

Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “There was some laughter and fun this afternoon at Shaquille O’Neal’s official introduction to Cleveland. With Shaq, there always is. But there was also plenty of business. Wearing a black suit with a pink shirt and pink tie, O’Neal wanted to make two points as he spoke to media, team personnel, children from St. Martin DePorres school and season ticket and suite holders. One was his intention to help the Cavaliers and his friend LeBron James win a championship next season. The other is he’s still hoping to land a two-year contract extension. He made both points with his brand of humor with firmness. ‘My motto is simple,’ O’Neal said. ‘Win a Ring for the King.’

Greg Esposito at Fanster writes to Cavalier fans: “With the introduction of Shaquille O’Neal as a member of the Cavaliers today, we here in Phoenix thought it would be an appropriate time to have a little talk. We understand what you are going through today. We went through it on February 7, 2008. You feel excited, enthralled with every word Shaq has to say and dreams of championships are dancing in your head. It’s like Christmas, minus the fat guy in the red suit (that was a different introduction when Denny Green came to town). You’ve come so close over the last four years but were always missing one piece. With the introduction of the Big Aristotle you feel you have found that missing part. That one thing that will help win a title and keep King James in a Cleveland uniform for the long run. We felt it all here in Phoenix just a short year and a half ago and boy that championship parade felt even better. During the press conference today, Shaq said all the right things. He talked about fitting in, being able to play any style of basketball and knowing his roll. All things that sound oddly familiar to the tune the Big Shaqtus sang when he arrived in the Valley. Too bad it was all talk.”

UPDATE: From Ken Berger: “Lakers spokesman John Black declined to comment on Artest’s assertion, but another person with knowledge of the situation corroborated Artest’s account that he will sign with L.A. pending the financial parameters being finalized.”