Krieger: Adding Artest a bold move worth taking

Published December 15, 2005 at midnight

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Pursuing greatness always entails risks. The trick is measuring the risk against the reward and jumping on the right horse.

Disappointing so far this season, the Nuggets desperately need a big guard. One of the best swing men in the business - a small forward in Indiana but just as easily a shooting guard in Denver - just became available.

Which makes Ron Artest the subject of today's risk/reward profile.

I say this fully aware that Artest suffers from Screw Loose Syndrome (SLS) and will undoubtedly do or say something phenomenally stupid - probably more than once - during the next 2 1/2 seasons, the period during which he would be under contract to the team that trades for him.

In fact, I'm guessing the move would have maybe a one-in-three chance of blowing up in the Nuggets' faces; Artest could be so unhappy about being traded west when he asked to be traded east that he becomes a 250-pound sulk pump, sucking the life out of the locker room.

In other words, high risk.

Also, high reward.

This just in: The Nuggets aren't contending for a championship as they are.

Imagine if Artest can be persuaded to focus on playing basketball once he is free of the brawl-related baggage he faces in Indiana. The Nuggets would be much more serious contenders than they are now.

Playing together at the swing spots, Artest and Carmelo Anthony would be a monster. Opponents would have to check one of them with a guard, which would be fodder for Comedy Central.

By now, even the Nuggets admit they need help at big guard. They tried Voshon Lenard. They tried DerMarr Johnson. They've settled for defensive stopper Greg Buckner, which means they are getting little or no offense from a position the main purpose of which is to supply offense - hence the name, shooting guard.

The Nuggets would like to fill this hole with someone acquired for spare parts, which would be better than doing nothing but not as good as getting an All-Star like Artest.

They won't get Artest for spare parts. Even after he damaged the Pacers' bargaining position by asking out publicly, even after the Pacers appeared to set a time limit by moving him to the inactive list, Artest will command serious offers. He is that good and he has worn out his welcome in only one place so far.

Well, two, if you count the Palace, but here's guessing those fans would change their tune in a Detroit minute if Artest joined the Pistons.

The Pacers are off to a decent but not great start. I don't know what Nuggets package would be most attractive to Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird. Maybe it would be kids and draft choices. Maybe they'd like Eduardo Najera or Linas Kleiza to do some of Artest's banging.

Maybe, after all their turmoil, they need the un-Artest, a low-key personality who leads rather than distracts. That's Andre Miller, an underrated floor leader and a serious upgrade from the Pacers' Jamaal Tinsley.

The more I watch Miller, the better I like him - and the more I conclude he doesn't quite fit what the Nuggets want to do. It's a situation reminiscent of the dilemma Doug Moe faced with Fat Lever nearly 20 years ago. Lever was a terrific all-around guard, but playing the point, he did not give the Nuggets the pace Moe's running game required.

Moe solved this problem by moving Lever to big guard. Miller is almost the all-around player Lever was, but he's not the outside shooter. Already shooting impaired, the Nuggets cannot afford a big guard whose three-pointers arrive with the frequency of Halley's comet, so they can't play Miller at two guard for more than brief interludes.

With Miller running the point, the Nuggets are 13th in the league in scoring. They have regressed in a number of ways since the sensational second half of last season, but none more obvious than this. They aren't playing as fast as they did.

If they traded Miller to Indiana for Artest - the salaries are just tradeable - they could move Earl Watson in at the point. A backcourt of Watson and Artest would be as good defensively as any in the NBA.

Offensively, Watson would not score as much as Miller, but, with Artest beside him, he wouldn't have to. He would set the pace and distribute the ball to the potent scorers - Anthony, Artest, Camby, K-Mart - around him.

There are lesser big guards out there, of course. They would require less to obtain in trade. But they wouldn't make the difference Artest would.

The question is not how good he is. The question is whether he's the Terrell Owens of basketball, a personality so deeply skewed that he must destroy his surroundings in a toddler's tantrum wherever he goes.

Only a shrink can answer that one. Obviously, if he weren't so volatile, he would not be available at all. I suggest, as the folks on Law & Order say, a complete psych evaluation. Make the deal only if you're comfortable with what you find.

It would still be a big risk. But, for a team that needs exactly Artest's skill set, a risk worth taking.

kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com

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