Artest stays with the Kings

The Thursday NBA trade deadline came and went with no noise relating to the Kings, who opted against trading Ron Artest after so many expected otherwise.

But just a few hours after the small forward's future for the next few months was determined, the outlook beyond this season might have changed when his agent, Mark Stevens, provided the loudest din of the day. Artest, who has repeatedly said this season he would likely choose to become a free agent this summer, might not exercise the early termination option in his contract after all.

"Of course (Artest not being traded) changes a lot of about your perspective; a lot of things change," said Stevens, whose client will earn $7.4 million next season if he doesn't opt out. "Exercising our option at this point is possible, but not likely."

Artest's previous position that he would likely opt out left the Kings in an unfavorable position, as not trading him meant they could lose him this offseason for nothing in return unless they were able to execute a sign-and-trade with another team. They decided to keep him nonetheless, a move partially motivated by the lack of trade proposals they considered worthy but also because the notion remains of Artest staying in their future.

Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said his high opinion of Artest as a player hasn't changed. Although the notion of the Kings re-signing Artest once seemed implausible whether it was this summer or the next, the possibility now clearly exists.

"That's Ron's choice to make," Petrie said of Artest's option. "(But) we'll work through that when we get there. In the meantime, Ron is in a great space, is playing well. (Kings coach) Reggie (Theus) really enjoys having him. He's got everything in the world to be playing for ... . I don't know for certain what the future's going to hold."

Nor does Joe Maloof, although the Kings co-owner indicated it could certainly involve Artest for the long term.

"It's a great possibility that he will stay with us, and that we will be able to have him for the future," Maloof said. "My advice to him would be, 'Go out, play the rest of this season as hard as you can. Stay a good teammate, and at the end of the season we'll sit down and talk about a future.' It's impossible right now to decide what the future is until we see what happens in the next two months."

As for the past, the Kings' potential deal with Denver was the staring contest that ended as such by the the noon deadline.

With a standing offer for Nuggets forward Eduardo Najera and a first-round draft pick on the table, Petrie waited for Denver to add third-year small forward Linas Kleiza to the package. Yet in the last two days of possible dealings, a source close to the Kings said the Nuggets never once called. And suddenly, everything might have changed as it pertains to Artest.

After nearly two years in which so many considered the trading of Artest and Mike Bibby's to be part of the team's plans for moving forward, one of them remains. Bibby, meanwhile, was sent to Atlanta on Saturday, the motivation behind the move both financial and basketball-related. By acquiring the expiring contracts of Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson and Lorenzen Wright, they could save approximately $11 million next season and stay under the luxury tax threshold.

Before the signing of free agents is taken into account, their payroll will decrease from approximately $73 million to $62 million. The Kings would still be over the salary cap, with only their midlevel exception (approximately $5 million) and bi-annual exceptions (approximately $2 million) available to sign free agents. If Artest opts out, the payroll would be approximately $55 million, and the Kings could be under the salary cap.

They are still projected to be over the salary cap, however. Stevens said he considered the combination of the Bibby move and the Kings' decision not to trade Artest as positive signs in every regard for his client.

"We're happy to see (the Kings) made some moves to clear out some (salary cap) room for him in terms of rebuilding," he said. "We're just happy to be part of the rebuilding stage, since it appears that's the way they're going."

The prospect remains, of course, that Artest could still opt out. Stevens was quoted Feb. 10 by Denver TV station KDVR as saying, "Ron easy is a $13 million (per year) player, $14 million (per year) player, but he is not getting paid that."

With the overall outlook changing since then, Stevens said talks over Artest's worth should be left for another day.

"Of course if we can enter into a negotiating process with Sacramento this summer and we can both agree on a contract, it would be favorable because it's security," Stevens said. "If we can get something done, and it's favorable and it's honest, then of course we'd look to do it."

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