Kinda OT: KG just got hurt

[Dorray]

I like how this KG thread became a Odom vs. Artest thread.

Anyway, this is why I think Odom is a better fit on the Lakers than Artest...

Odom is better than Artest in nearly all offensive catagories. This is a straight up fact. He was better on O last year as well as the first 4 games this year. Odom has career averages of 15.9 ppg, 4.6 apg, 8.5 rpg, 71.3% FTs, .325 3pt%, .452 FG%. Artest has career averages of 14.9 ppg, 3.1 apg, 4.8 rpg, 71.6 FT%, 31.1 3pt%, 41.5 FG%. So Artest advantage on FT% is extremely marginal but Odom beats him handily on assists, boards and FG% and beats him out on points and 3pt% as well. Artest is not a facilitator and Odom can be a point-forward if asked to be and is a much better ball handler. Odom can actually play all positions on the court and Artest cannot. Odom usually plays PF or SF but can do both well. Artest usually only plays SF and sometimes SG. Odom is far more versatile on the offensive end.

Artest is a great defender and everyone knows that. He beats Odom there but Lamar does have a higher career blocks per game avg. than RonRon. The Lakers already have Kobe who can lock down the other teams best SF or SG as well as go off offensively. While it would be nice to have Artest play the D and Kobe play the O, Kobe can do both and Odom can facilitate the offense for himself and the other guys. There is a reason that the Lakers do not want to trade Odom. JD even made a post about this so its true. The Lakers were not willing to trade Odom or Bynum for Artest and that should tell you something about how valued Lamar is here in Lakerland. If I had to pick either Lamar or Artest to play alongside Kobe and the gang, I would go for Lamar by a slim margin.