The New York Daily News casually mentions Ron Artest in trade rumors, and Ric Bucher reportedly brought up the idea of Bibby-to-the-Lakers last night on ESPN.

The Knicks are hard to deal with, mostly because they liquidated both of their big expiring contracts this summer (Jalen Rose and Maurice Taylor). That means they have Channing Frye, David Lee, the Bulls low first-round pick, and a host of bad contracts.

The most palatable of the bad deals might be Malik Rose, $15 million over this year and next. But Artest makes less and has the same contract length. You'd need to pull Frye and the pick, or both Frye and Lee to explain that one away. There's no deal with New York that would give the Kings cap space this summer.

I don't think Isiah Thomas would get away with giving up both youngsters, even if Artest was the bounty. Frye played too well last year, and Lee is playing too well this year.

Bibby to the Lakers may sound sacrilege. When you look at the options, it becomes even moreso. Bibby for Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie, and the Lakers first-round pick works, but isn't likely to stop the torch-throwing hordes from stringing Geoff Petrie to the gallows. There's no logical trade in which the Kings could dump Kenny Thomas (unless you bring in a cap-killing Vlad Radmanovic deal), so this rumor seems DOA without a third team.

The rumor mill is heating up, though, so it could be an exciting week. More ideas in the comments are always welcome.