To all the Laker fans just now sobering up from the championship parties and afterglow of the perfect end to a wild season, don’t put down those keg (or soda) cups quite yet…WE JUST GOT RON ARTEST! Granted, this is news that passed through the airwaves days ago, but the implications of the deal will be felt for years to come. In essentially trading Trevor Ariza (granted, a sad loss) to the Rockets for Ron Ron, the Lakers upgraded that spot on both ends of the floor. To be fair, Ariza played a pivotal role in the recent successful playoff run, but if you watch those games and think about what Ron Artest would have been doing in a few of those situations, it’s almost scary. Ron Artest is probably the main reason that the Houston Rockets took the Lakers to the 7th game of the series, and were the only team to do so this past season. His fire and intensity on defense are the main reason that Kobe and Phil were quietly clamoring for him even before this championship, and his addition to the team is a serious upgrade even taking the loss of Trevor Ariza into account.

Still, the Lakers must retain Lamar in order for this all to work out. There aren’t really any free agents out there that could fill the hole Odom would leave behind, and he’s also a huge team chemistry guy as well childhood friends with Artest. It is conceivable that Artest agreed to come thinking that Odom would stay and that it was part of the decision-making process. He even set the example by taking the mid-level exception when he is clearly worth more than that as a player. What he is quite clearly saying is that winning a championship is more important than the difference in the amount of money he would make, and hopefully Lamar agrees and structures a similar type of deal with the Lakers to remain with the team. Swapping Ariza for Artest is definitely an upgrade, but like I said, there aren’t really any upgrades or even matches for Lamar Odom out on the market so the Lakers would be silly not to do everything they can to compromise.

Aside from the team aspect, let’s take a look at the media aspect of having Ron Artest be a Los Angeles Laker. He will reside in the media capital of the world, mingling nightly with the elite of the television, music and film industries. It will be interesting to see if Artest can avoid the pitfalls associated with parts of the LA lifestyle and concentrate on the real bling – an NBA championship. His attitude and behavior suggest that he will, as he seems to be modeling his focus on Kobe and his media control on Shaq, we might be in witnessing another dynasty in the making…complete with all the fanfare and drama of those past!