Sharim Abdur-Rahim of the Sacramento Kings has announced that he will be retiring from the NBA due to a persistent right knee injury. The Kings have filed with the NBA to try and get the salary of Abdur-Rahim wiped off the books for this season. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the request will go through because the retirement takes place so close to the start of the upcoming season.

If the league does approve the clearance of salary from the Kings payroll, doesn’t it make you question what could’ve been. The Lakers were rumored throughout the Summer to be making a run for Ron Artest while using Lamar Odom as bait. Apparently, the Kings were only willing to give up Artest to LA if the Lakers also took on the salary of Abdur-Rahim.

Mitch Kupchak was reluctant to take on another salary player, even for only one year, and thus the trade was quickly passed on. With the emerging news that the contract of Abdur-Rahim may not count against the books, would it have served the Lakers better to pick up Artest for Odom and lower the luxury tax penalty the team will incur?

My personal opinion is that Ron Artest fits in better into the Lakers system and is a hard nosed player that the team is missing. Lamar Odom is a solid all around athlete however in several years with the team is yet to prove that he can play at a $13 million per year player. Perhaps this is the season… who knows?