Ben from the jump higher in basketball hub.

On the other hand, one thing nobody has acknowledged is how much Ron has improved from the three point line in the last couple of years. He shot 40% from 3 last year. On a team with Kobe and Gasol both demanding a ton of defensive attention and Fisher, Walton, and Odom being such great passers, Artest's shooting could be huge.

The Lakers only problem over the last two years has been defense. The Celtics celbfration would have been voided out with our own had the Lakers played defense. Artest is a more physical and better defender than Ariza in spite of his age. Ariza grew leaps and bounds this year yes but he didn't surpass Artest. Ariza had a great playoff run and I'm glad he did but the Lakers aren't losing a thing with Artest.

I'm not sure who you're lambasting here. Nobody mentioned whether or not Artest would get along with the other Lakers in the locker room or who would lead the campfire songs at Phil Jackson's ranch.

There are legit concerns about losing a lanky, athletic player who did the little things without worrying about how many shots he got and replacing him with a ball-stopper who excels at creating offense rather than fitting into a system. People are just concerned with how Ron's game fits with Phil's system. Don't forget how Payton never really got acclimated (though Gary was obviously much older and on the decline, their similarities are pretty obvious - defensive stalwarts who are used to handling the ball a lot and making a lot of decisions being asked to remain effective as part of a passing system where only Bryant and Shaq / Gasol really get to isolate).

Larry Hughes is a good example of a player who was a near All-Star while running in a high octane offense with Gilbert Arenas in the Eddie Jordan motion offense, and who immediately became a liability when he tried to fit into Coach Brown's slowdown, LeBron-centric half court offense. He didn't lose 6/10th of his ability when he changed uniforms. He just didn't fit anymore. Then he got hurt. Now he's lost 6/10th of his ability.

Another example would be Elton Brand. Terrific player who never made a lick of sense coming into the Phili system. They were an up-tempo team with a ton of length and athleticism and no shooters. He's a half-court player who doesn't run well and specializes in post scoring that requires shooters to provide proper spacing. This stuff matters. Even when he was healthy they were better without him (no offense to Brand who I've always liked. Just a bad fit. Which is the point).