Portland, Ore. – The marathon Ron Artest sweepstakes ended Wednesday with Indiana shipping the small forward to Sacramento. While the Nuggets had been attached to Artest rumors since mid-December, coach George Karl said his team was not near the front of the line of suitors recently.
“The longer it dragged on, the less and less we felt we were involved,” he said.
General manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he had not spoken with the Pacers’ front office in about two weeks. Forward Carmelo Anthony said he had not spoken with Artest since December.
But just because the quest for Artest has ended does not mean the Nuggets will not make a move before the Feb. 23 trade deadline.
Vandeweghe said he always remains open to improving the team and wants to find a team for shooting guard Voshon Lenard, who has not played since Dec. 15.
“I will try to get him to a place where he can play,” Vandeweghe said. “I think he deserves that. He’s been tremendous, very professional, practices hard every day and really deserves to play in this league.
“My first priority, of course, is to do right by the team. Keeping that in mind, I’ll try to get Vo to a good spot.”
The GM added he is happy with his team’s recent play, reiterating his stance that he likes the current roster.
After beating Portland on Wednesday, the Nuggets remain unbeaten with Earl Watson in the starting lineup. Still, the guard would not assume the trade rumors surrounding him are over. He predicted a flurry of other NBA trades now that the Artest trade is finalized.
“I don’t know if I’m directly involved in it,” Watson said. “But it’s a business; I wouldn’t be surprised. My name’s been mentioned. It just recently died down. That doesn’t mean there’s not any activity.”
Vandeweghe did not foresee such a domino effect around the league.
“I don’t know if there’ll be as much as people anticipate, but obviously the trade deadline’s coming up and there tends to be a lot of activity around that time,” Vandeweghe said. “So I think there’ll be deals done.”
Footnote
Karl said with Marcus Camby (broken right pinkie) due to return Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers, rookie forward Linas Kleiza might see time at small forward. Kleiza has been playing mostly power forward recently, and Karl said he has earned more trust.
