Ron Artest

I just read that the Cavs are most likely not making an attempt at trading for the instigator of the worst brawl in NBA history, Ron Artest, because they don't want to take on the two year commitment to Kenny Thomas and his hilarious contract. That's right, the Cavs don't want to take on a bad contract. I understand Ferry wanting to avoid bad contracts after his love affair with them during his freshman year as the Cleveland GM, but he needs to make this trade for two reason. 1) It's only for two years, one more year than Wally Szczerbiak's bad contract (and worth less per year) which will be traded away. 2) It's fucking Ron Artest.

Ronny gets paid around $8 million for this last year and, I guess, there could be trouble signing him for more years if he plays well. However, if someone were to actually enjoy the city of Cleveland, it would be Ron Artest. Not to mention, he is his own agent (which is potentially comical). That means, if he likes Cleveland, he wouldn't have some d bag whispering in his ear and telling him to sign with L.A. or NY if he has a lucrative contract year.

Just think of this: if you, as a coach, want to put on a full court press, how would you like to have LeBron James and Ron Artest pressuring the ball? Is there any chance they manage to get the ball across half court? What if you decide to send an old Ben Wallace over there too (and by the way, the Artest/Wallace history just makes everything more fun)? And although Artest is known as a defensive player, he would still immediately the Cavaliers' second best scorer, and the best scorer they've had since LeBron was on the team other than LeBron himself.

Let's also look at some other options Cleveland have been looking at to help out The King:

1) Micheal Redd

Maybe the most obvious and most often brought up trade target for Cleveland, Redd was one of the most talented players to ever play for the Buckeyes and helped take them to the Final Four and plays with LeBron on the USA National Team. His defense and team-playerability (fake word) may be questionable, but the one thing Micheal Redd is is a scoring machine. This, of course, would be a welcome addition to The James Gang because the area in which The Gang is most greatly lacking is scoring (or really anything helpful) from the shooting guard position. There is really no downside to getting Michael Redd for the Cavs. The problem is twofold: 1) Anderson Varejao is undoubtedly involved in the potential trade and he is rumored to have nixed it (something he loses the ability to do before the trade deadline). Problem number 2) Milwaukee might actually have the delusion that a team of Michael Redd, Mo Williams, and Richard Jefferson isn't still horrible. This could cause The Bucks to hold onto Redd if they think they will be contenders in the Eastern Conference this year (which they will not). Both these problems could easily be solved by making this trade at the trading deadline which I expect to happen if nothing else happens for the Cavs before then.

2) Monta Ellis

This an interesting idea but, no matter how much I think about it, it never seems like a very good one. Ellis is a guy who scores a lot, but is tiny and will be overpaid throughout his career. I know Cleveland is in need of scoring, but this team is shaping up to be a team based on athleticism, defense, strength, and overall bigness. The Lakers in the finals were overwhelmed by the bigger, stronger, less European Celtics. The Eastern Conference seems to be figuring out that overpowering the West is the best way to beat them, and I think that's where the Cavs want to be headed. Acquiring a mouse-like shooting guard is not a step in that direction.

3) Vince Carter

I hate this idea and anyone who thinks it's even reasonable. I know he'll be traded for cheap and was once a great athlete, but he's cheap because he's useless. Vince Carter is not a bad person, but he is indifferent to winning. A team trying to mean business does not want Vince Carter. He's also old. There's nothing about this I don't hate.

4) J.R. Smith

I can't say I like this idea at all either. People have said they believe that J.R. could be LeBron's second banana, but I don't see it. I have many problems with this guy. First, he is on the Nuggets, and what's more, he looks like he belongs on the Nuggets. This Denver team is one of the dumbest, most unlikable teams I've ever seen and I would not trade for anybody on it (unless he had a David Lee vibe where he clearly hated playing on that team). Second, Smith's actions on the court show no direction or focus on any real goal, a little like Vince. J.R. is a streak shooter and above average athlete and that seems to be it. Third, I would not trade Delonte West or Boobie Gibson for him even though he might be a more productive player than both of them and here is why: Delonte and Boobie have rolls and play them, I would say, very well. All Boobie and West are asked to do is be solid outside shooters and be able to get the offense started (pass to LeBron immediately), but they do it. J.R. would be asked to be a high volume consistent scorer and second best player and starting shooting guard. I feel that Smith would be a disappointment at those tasks and therefore, is not worth getting because people who can fill those rolls do, in fact, exist.

Some of these trades I like and some of them I very much dislike. The only two I would be truly happy about are Michael Redd or Ron Artest, but I would have to say that I prefer Artest because of his defense, history of winning (ignoring his history of violence), and the fact that he, somewhat shockingly, is the samg age as Redd. And the fact is, if anyone belongs in Cleveland (big "if"), it's Ron.