Shortly after winning the NBA championship the Los Angeles Lakers went out and made the biggest splash in free agency, all but insuring they will repeat as world champions, by signing Ron Artest to a 3 or 5-year deal. Artest has until July 8th to decide which contract he wants with both the 3 and 5-year deals having benefits for both him and the Lakers. The move was made after Trevor Ariza asked too much from the Lakers to stay so they showed him the door and they got significantly better by signing probably the top defender in the NBA in Artest. This gives Kobe an "enforcer" similar to what Michael Jordan had during his second three-peat in Chicago with Dennis Rodman.
When Artest has his head on straight he is easily a top 5 player in the NBA. He is an elite defender who likes to play head games to take opponents out of their games and when he wants to he can score 40 plus a night. Plus this is a significant upgrade over Ariza who has still yet to prove himself over a long period of time in the league. After injuries sidelined Tracy McGrady and later Yao Ming, Artest took the Houston Rockets on his back and lead them out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Ron Ron helped the Rockets push the Lakers to seven games before ultimately losing 89-70 in Los Angeles.
I don't know if their is a move that can be done that would top this unless their is an unpredictable blockbuster trade, so the Lakers are looking like the team to beat once again. The NBA offseason has been very exciting and has injected some much needed hype around the league and the landscape of the NBA has changed almost daily.
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