Artest/Ariza

Nothing bugs me more than basketball analysts who don't know what they're talking about. Or who make comments that would have been accurate 5 years ago, but not now. Or who focus on a player's name value rather than his game. So you can probably imagine that the recent Artest/Ariza swap has made me want to guage my eyes out in frustration. This move (or rather, this pair of moves) makes so little sense on so many levels that it is absolutely mind boggling. Here's why:

Why Ariza is a better fit with the Lakers: The most obvious reason is the old adage "don't fix it if it ain't broken". The Lakers won the title fairly convincingly, why break that up? But there's much more to it than that. Ariza was such a perfect fit for the Lakers offense: He really understands and fits well with all the motion concepts that the Triangle offense demands. He knows how to read defenses, and when the defense collapses on Kobe or Pau, Ariza is good at either making the right cut to the basket or finding the right place to spot up and hit the open 3. Artest will ruin the Lakers motion offense. He is a black hole. A ball stopper. The ball sticks to him as if his hands were covered in glue. He simply is not the type of player that can make the smart, quick, team-oriented decisions and passes that the Triangle demands. His offensive repertoire consists of him receiving the pass and going one-on-one against his man. Furthermore, Ron-Ron is a guy who demands a lot of touches to get his points: He isn't exactly the most efficient scorer. We know that Kobe will get the ball as much as he needs it, but Ron is not going to sacrifice touches to anyone else. That means Gasol and Odom, the Lakers two most efficient offensive players are going to get fewer touches, which is definitely not good no matter what offensive scheme that you use.

And contrary to what all of ESPN's talking heads will tell you, this is going to hurt the Lakers defensively. Look, Artest is a pretty good defender, but people still think that he's some sort of all-world defender, as in Scottie Pippen/Gary Payton territory, even though that hasn't been the case since the basketbrawl. He doesn't tenaciously fight through every screen like he used to, and he can get exposed against quicker players. Ariza is definitely the better defender. I just hate when analysts say "Now Kobe won't have to guard the other team's best guy; Artest will do that". Haven't you been watching games? What the hell did Ariza do? They were using him on the other team's best perimeter guy every freaking game!!!!!!!!!!!! If they really expect Artest to dominate the likes of Lebron, D-Wade, Carmelo, Durant, Ginobili, et. al, then they will be very disappointed. And it does sound like they expect him to be able to completely shut those guys down with no help, in which case the lakers are certainly not going to get what they expected.

Look, the point of the preceding two paragraphs was not the demean Ron Artest. I think he's a wonderful player. He's absolutely an above average defender and a guy who can get you 15-20 points, 5-7 rebounds on most nights. I love his toughness and tenacity (This is one area where I agree that he makes the Lakers unquestionably better), and I'd say that Ron-Ron is my second favorite NBA baller (behind Chris Bosh). And it really pains me to point out his flaws that he has developed since the Brawl, but I can't sit here and let all of TV's basketball analysts focus on his reputation as opposed to his actual play: Artest is a ball-stopper on offense, and a good but somewhat overrated defender (certainly not better than Ariza).

Why Artest is a better fit with the Rockets: One part of me is kind of happy because my prediction that somebody would overpay for Ariza came true. Before the offseason I felt that Ariza was a valuable piece that could help put a good team over the top. He can really help you if all you ask him to do is complement the stars. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Yao is probably done, T-Mac's career is falling faster than Paris Hilton's, and there really isn't anyone else who can really carry this team. Ariza, and a lot of the guys in Houston, will be forced to create a lot of their own offense, something that none of have ever been forced to do nor should be doing. Ariza will give you sensational defense, he can finish in transition, he will make a few hustle plays in the course of the game, and he can nail open 3's. That's nice when you have stars who can carry the team and take care of all the big things. That's not something that you build your team around. This is why signing Ariza makes no sense: The Rockets can't possibly win a title without Yao and T-Mac, so the best thing to do would be commit to rebuilding. Instead they've committed their midlevel exception to a player who improves them but doesn't make them a title contender, thus hampering their chances of rebuilding. Basically they have a very mediocre team that is pretty assured of a playoff spot but won't ever win a series and will keep getting stuck with those useless mid first round draft picks. This is where Artest comes in. If I haven't made it clear enough, more often than not Artest kills the offense because he destroys any semblance of ball movement. But with Yao and McGrady most likely finished as players, the Rockers need someone who can create his own offense, someone who can possibly carry the offense, someone who can act as at least the pseudo go-to guy, someone who can get off a shot against any defender. Artest will probably hurt them on a lot of possessions, but at least he's a guy that you can run your offense through and get some results. Ariza probably contributes more than Artest on both ends of the floor, but like a lot of the guys in Houston, he gets swallowed up when he tries to create his own shot off the dribble. Now the Rockets will have a very limited offense, and there will be quite a few times when the guys play hot-potato and have a look that says "I don't want it, you take it". Ariza essentially makes the Rockets the Western Conference's version of the Bobcats.

The Verdict: Both sides lost, plain and simple. For the Lakers, this is at least a tiny, microscopic bit defensible because I'm hearing that Ariza wouldn't settle for the midlevel exception (Although after seeing the deal with Houston I'm beginning to doubt this), so the Lakers had to find a cheaper alternative so that they could resign Odom (something they must do to remain a title contender). And maybe they thought that Artest can give them everything that Ariza does, or just enough to keep the Lakers above everything else. Maybe they hope that he can learn to share the ball and give the Lakers offense an added dimension as a swingman who can post up and score off the dribble (I have strong doubts that this will happen). But this makes no sense for the Rockets: They should commit to rebuilding, but now they're stuck at that point where they're nowhere near good enough to win a title but not quite good bad enough to win the lottery and get a franchise-changer. It also makes no sense for Ariza: Why not take the exact same deal to stay in your hometown and play for the defending champions? and If you must leave, why not go to Cleveland or Boston, where you can let your current skill set flourish, and you won't be forced to do too much because Lebron or Pierce can create for everyone? I actually feel kind of bad for Ariza, because it seems like his agent tried to get him an extra million or two and ended up getting embarrassed by the Lakers management. Still, the Lakers and Rockets have the distinction of pulling off the rare trade that hurts both teams.