Jul 10 2009
Did Lakers improve by replacing Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest?
The Lakers, recently picked up Ron Artest from the Houston Rockets and will pay him 18 million for 3 years. In doing so, the Lakers gave up Trevor Ariza to the Rockets who will pay Ariza 33.5 million dollars over 5 years. My question here is did the Lakers really improve their team by doing so?
Ron Artest is a bigger threat on offense than Ariza is and can post up on players. So offensively the Lakers win here. The thing here is that the Lakers don’t really need another offensive threat. I mean, they already have Bryant and Gasol not to mention Odom for now. Of course Artest would surely step back to Kobe and Pau offensively as he just wants to win a championship, that’s his whole reason for coming to Los Angeles for such a cheap price. The Lakers really got another steal here as Artest said that he didn’t care about the money and that he just wants to win.
Defensively, Artest is just as good as Trevor Ariza so if your going by offense-defense here then the Lakers definitely get the overall advantage.
Trevor Ariza gives the Houston Rockets some young talent. Ariza proved himself last season with the Lakers of his capabilities and in my opinion could be a really great role player. Ariza will never be a superstar or the main man of a team but when he is playing on a team with a Bryant, Wade or any other superstar he can be quite an asset to have on your team.
In the short run the Lakers will get the advantage in this trade. In the long run though the Rockets will. It was not a necessary trade for the Lakers. He will not make much of a difference on the team. They would be in contention for the championship next season with him or without him.
In the long run Ariza will make a big difference in Houston especially if Yao Ming is not to return again and the Rockets go into rebuilding mode. Ariza will be a great part of the rebuilding process.
