If Lakers trade, Artest wants out?

GM Mitch Kupchak, coach Phil Jackson and LA icon Magic Johnson just did what franchise pillars of their stature rarely do -- something Lakers officials never do, really -- by announcing to the world that the teetering two-time champs might need to make a trade. Why? Simple. The Lakers have been so uncharacteristically public about the potential benefits of an injection of new blood because they know, with a league-high $90.4 million payroll and such limited trade assets, that threatening this locker room with a shakeup move is a far simpler gamble to execute than shaking things up with an actual deal before the Feb. 24 trading deadline. However ... I'm told that there's at least one prominent Laker who hopes he's the guy who gets shipped out in the next 20-odd days. One source close to the situation insists that Ron Artest wants out. Asked to react to that, Artest's agent David Bauman declined comment. This is where I'm obligated to remind you that no one in the NBA can change his mind faster than the famously fickle Ron-Ron. Another pertinent disclaimer: Artest's play has been sufficiently sluggish in the second season of a five-year deal that whatever he wants is bound to be greeted by shrugs and scoffs, no matter how much he gave the Lakers in the epic final game of last season.

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Ron Artest, AP