Did the Kings beat the Lakers to Ron Artest?

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No.

Or let me put it another way, who knows? Who knows anything when it comes down to Ron Artest?

For sure, the Lakers could use a small forward and Phil Jackson liked the idea of getting him.

Phil won championships in Chicago with Dennis Rodman and Bison Dele, who was then called Brian Williams, not to mention the three he picked up in Los Angeles with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant at each other’s throats, and who is completely indifferent to human foibles, even when the foibles are bigger than the human.

However, Jackson’s current team looks like a powerhourse to me, with no need whatsoever to gamble on Artest’s ever-changing moods and views of reality.

Moreover, if the Maloof brothers who own the Kings were ever going to give him away, it wasn’t going to be to the arch-rival Lakers.

When Artest was hanging around the Lakers in the playoffs, doing every talk radio show in L.A. that would have him (another week and he’d have been co-hosting with Hartman, Mychal and The Brick to make it four Loose Cannons), it was clear it could only be done one way -- with Ron-Ron opting out of his last season at $7.5 million and coming for the $5.5 mill exception.

Well, it was clear to everyone but Ronnie, who, being Ronnie, went right to the deadline, announced there was no way he would take a pay cut, declined to exercise his option... and THEN announced the next day he was sorry he hadn’t.

Maybe that was when the Maloofs decided that they’d had enough. After having turned down lowball offers for a year (including one from Chicago that might have made it possible for the Bulls to get Kobe Bryant), the Kings have reportedly agreed to donate Artest to the Houston Rockets for old Bobby Jackson and a No. 1 pick.

Artest could turn the Rockets with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady into a formidable contender, indeed, if Ronnie can stay happy for more than one day in a row and everything else goes smoothly.

R-i-g-h-t.

--MARK HEISLER