Fresh off winning the NBA title in 2008-2009, the Los Angeles Lakers made a major splash in the offseason by acquiring one of the game's more controversial players: Ron Artest. Artest was coming off his contract with the Houston Rockets, who eventually signed former Laker Trevor Ariza, making the Artest signing an essential swap for Ariza. The Lakers' move was an obvious attempt to position the team to repeat in 2009-2010, but will it work?

Artest will bring a lot of things onto the court to Los Angeles. He was once one of the best defenders in the league and is still a really good one. He's a big body, so he has no trouble guarding the larger small forwards in the league and he possesses decent lateral quickness, though that has deteriorated a bit over time. He's a good on-ball defender and knows how to play within a team system, as well. He's strong and relatively quick for his size and never lacks in the effort department.

On offense, Artest is a solid though unspectacular player. He's a tough competitor on both ends of the floor, but could use a bit more finesse on offense. He can score, and while his shot selection can be shaky, he won't be asked to score a ton on this team. He can shoot from three, which will come in handy, but the biggest thing he brings to the team in general is toughness.

On the court, the move should work out very well, as long as his and his teammates' play is not affected by any off-the-court stuff. Artest has been known to be a bit eccentric and has been somewhat of a distraction throughout his career. The Lakers, though, are well aware of this and are obviously willing to roll the dice. Lamar Odom has been a friend of Artest's since the two were attending high school in Queen, NY and the team already has an alpha dog in Kobe Bryant. Those two players should go a long way in keeping Artest in line.

Another big factor in keeping Artest in line should be Phil Jackson. The Lakers coach isn't called the Zen Master for nothing. He's been able to control players throughout his coaching career, and did a fantastic job keeping Dennis Rodman in line as well as he could in Chicago. Notice that Rodman's career didn't last long after he and Phil parted ways. Jackson will surely have a calming effect on Artest.

The Lakers are definitely one of the top teams in the NBA and should be the favorite to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals this season. The essential Artest-Ariza swap makes the Lakers better in the short-term, which they evidently felt was necessary with teams like San Antonio and Cleveland getting richer in the offseason with free agent acquisitions and trades.

No matter what happens, Ron Artest is going to help sell Los Angeles Lakers tickets at http://www.stubhub.com/los-angeles-lakers-tickets in some fashion. If the Lakers win the title, it may be seen that they did it in spite of Artest. If they don't, he'll get blamed for it, but neither will be accurate. Basketball is still a team game and the Lakers are a good team with or without Artest.