Look at it this way: If the Rockets offered Ron Artest to the Lakers for Trevor Ariza straight-up and the money was even, wouldn’t L.A. jump on that in half-a-second? Of course. That’s basically what happened yesterday, when Artest agreed to a three-year, $18M deal with L.A., and an allegedly pissed-off Ariza turned right around and reached a deal with the Rockets. (Ariza was already believed to be upset that the Lakers hadn’t made him more of a priority in the beginning stages of free agency, so he might have left anyway.) The younger Ariza will get an estimated $33 million over five years … Read More »

Just when it looked like Jerry Sloan was at the end of his rope and about to suit up John Stockton for Game 4 — try to tell us Stock didn’t look like he could get 10 points, six dimes and a steal right now — the Jazz showed some heart and made this Utah/L.A. series interesting, knocking off the Lakers last night thanks to their Big Two … How much of a problem was Carlos Boozer? Deron Williams said it all in the post-game interview with Pimpin’ Craig: “He’s a beast, man.” Read More »