I think this is a fantastic move for the Lakers. Barring his attitude problems, he's better than Ariza x10 fold and will prove so by helping the entire team much more.
Artest is much better than Ariza defensively. He can guard other teams' stars such as Pierce, Melo, LeBron, ect. probably better than anyone. Not to metion, Artest is a huge intimidator.
Offensively Artest is much better as well. He can create his own shot by scoring in the post, driving and finishing and shooting from the outside... while Ariza is dependant on Kobe and Gasol to get wide open looks which he is STILL inconsistent. (I know he had a good playoff run, but he's still extremely inconsistent.)
I think the biggest factor that will come into play, is that Artest will now guard the opponents best player rather than Kobe having to. This is going to make Kobe that much less fatigued at the end of games, and will make him even that much more of a force to close.
So yeah, this was a great move for the Laker in every aspect. Of course that is if Artest doesn't cause any problems.
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