While Ron Artest's only known comment of the day was his comical tapdancing act on KHTK's Carmichael Dave show on Tuesday night in which he wouldn't specifically talk about the trade, his agent had no problem sharing his elation about the move.
"(The trade) helps put Ron in a situation to succeed, which is an honorable thing for the Maloofs and Geoff Petrie to do," Stevens said by phone late Tuesday night. "They will always be in our minds and our hearts. We'll never forget them for reestablishing Ron's career after the suspension and bringing him in. They could've put Ron in other situations, but they did what was best for Ron as a player."
Stevens said there's no reason to think this deal won't be finalized by Aug. 14, the first day on which Donte Greene can be traded (for specifics, click here).
"Of course you have physicals to be (completed), and you have the technicality of Donte being a draft pick," he said. "But I don't see any reason the deal shouldn't happen, that it shouldn't go through. All we can do is sit back and wait for that time to come."
On a side note, it should be fairly obvious by now that Stevens is still Artest's agent. For those who had been following this Ron Artest saga No. 221, the small forward said earlier this month that he would be his own agent and that Stevens was out. This came, of course, after Artest publicly fumed about his decision to not opt out of his contract by the June 30 deadline. The obvious conclusion was that he blamed Stevens for the perceived miscalculation. In any event, Stevens reports that he has survived yet another spin on the Artest roller coaster ride.
"In any situation, you're going to have disagreements, you're going to have misinterpretations, and you're going to have opinions," Stevens said. "But one part of this business is that you have to know the facts (regarding Artest's potential free agency), because that establishes who you are and what you bring to the circumstance."
"We have been together for years. He respects me, I respect him, and we agree to disagree. It won't be the first time and it won't be the last time. This happens in business. At the end of the day, I'm still his agent representing him and that's all matters. We're going to continue with the relationship we have." - Sam Amick
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