It's a rumor heard it on a radio show. there is an article about it. can the lakers afford him though ?? dude wants 12M, i think it a way to down play ariza's request of 8-9 million.
http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/2009/06/could-artest-be-on-the-lakers.html
If either Ariza or Odom prove to be too expensive for the Lakers, one backup option could be Houston forward Ron Artest, a player Kupchak has targeted in the past.
Agent David Bauman said Tuesday afternoon that the Lakers, Cleveland Cavs and Orlando Magic were three teams he expected to join Houston in pursuit of Artest.
"Ron's tight with Kobe," Bauman said. "From a basketball perspective, the Lakers make perfect sense. Ron is a winner. His best fit is when he's on a winning team. He shoots the three, posts up smaller guys, and defensively he's a beast. Certainly those are skills a contending team would find attractive."
Bauman would not discuss salary demands for Artest, but few teams have the cap room to pay more than the mid-level exception, expected to be valued at slightly less than $6 million.
Artest has said his first choice would be to re-sign with Houston, a fact that Bauman said hasn't changed despite Yao Ming's foot injury being more serious than first believed.
"He's hopeful Yao is going to be healthy," Bauman said. "Even if Yao misses some time, Ron's confident Yao will be back on the court. It's not affecting his decision one way or the other."