Mike Bibby has been exiled after nearly seven seasons with the Sacramento Kings. Is Ron Artest next?

Artest told ESPN.com on Saturday that he's no longer lobbying for a move before Thursday's trading deadline.

"I am anxious to see what my future holds, [but] I like Sac," Artest wrote in an e-mail. "My entire focus is with Sac and winning a championship this year."

Earlier this month, Artest said repeatedly that the Kings "would be better if I wasn't on the team." But he's backed off those comments, which apparently stem from Artest's concern that Sacramento isn't interested in keeping him beyond this season.

Artest has the ability to terminate his contract at season's end and become a free agent in July. Earning $7.4 million this season and due to make the same amount next season, Artest will be seeking a substantial raise if he does opt out.

Yet there have been no indications that such a raise is coming from the Kings. And after shedding Bibby's $14.5 million salary for next season, Sacramento seems unlikely to part with Artest now in any trade that adds long-term salary to the Kings' payroll -- even with the likes of Denver's Carmelo Anthony using his All-Star Weekend platform to publicly call for his team to trade for Artest.

The Kings might have other motivations to keep him around. Artest has been playing maybe his best ball as a King since those comments about leaving, with first-year coach Reggie Theus praising Artest's increased willingness to share the ball and his all-around team play in making the claim this week that "Ron is our go-to guy."

As for Bibby's departure, Artest has always tried to convince the skeptics that he and Bibby were closer than outsiders believe. He tried again Saturday to dispel the notion that there was friction between the two, insisting that they often worked out together away from the practice floor and spent time with each other's children.

"Bibby treated me like family," Artest said.

sleandres wrote:I wonder if this guy is, in fact, insane??!?

martin wrote:and you still want a madman on your team

martin wrote:well there was a thread where tons of people were so hyped about the possibility of artest coming to warrios

EMan32 wrote:haha...id still love having artest here. i dont discriminate against the mentally unstable. LOL.

no matter what issues he has goin on in his head, point is he's a good ball player. maybe he has two personalities(like stephen jackson... see this months issue of ESPN magazine): ron artest, the insane...and ron artest, the ball player. if we trade for him, we get both....but the one that is consistently on the court is the one that will help us win. i understand that a lot of you might find it troubling having him on our team but i dont have any problem with it. i still think he'd help our team more than hurt it

EMan32 wrote:haha...id still love having artest here. i dont discriminate against the mentally unstable. LOL.

no matter what issues he has goin on in his head, point is he's a good ball player. maybe he has two personalities(like stephen jackson... see this months issue of ESPN magazine): ron artest, the insane...and ron artest, the ball player. if we trade for him, we get both....but the one that is consistently on the court is the one that will help us win. i understand that a lot of you might find it troubling having him on our team but i dont have any problem with it. i still think he'd help our team more than hurt it

bigstrads wrote:

EMan32 wrote:haha...id still love having artest here. i dont discriminate against the mentally unstable. LOL.

no matter what issues he has goin on in his head, point is he's a good ball player. maybe he has two personalities(like stephen jackson... see this months issue of ESPN magazine): ron artest, the insane...and ron artest, the ball player. if we trade for him, we get both....but the one that is consistently on the court is the one that will help us win. i understand that a lot of you might find it troubling having him on our team but i dont have any problem with it. i still think he'd help our team more than hurt it

All fair enough Eman.............but think about it............what has he ever actually done to help a team in terms of winning and going into the playoffs?.............the suspensions and all the rest of it..............then his actual play hasnt exactly transpired into success.