Artest and Ariza trade NBA teams, Wallace to Boston

07-10-2009 | AFP

Players beginning to find new homes as NBA free agency begins

Panama Star LOS ANGELES. Volatile forward Ron Artest and rising star Trevor Ariza traded teams and Shannon Brown signed on for another year with the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers officially welcomed Artest from Houston but lost Ariza to the same Rockets as the league's moratorium on signing free agents ended Wednesday.

In the another big move Wednesday, forwa rd Rasheed Wallace agreed to a contract with the Boston Celtics.

The 29-year-old averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 69 regular season contests with the Rockets.

In his 10-year career, Artest has game averages of 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists with Chicago, Indiana, Sacramento and Houston.

Artest helped the Houston Rockets get to the quarter-finals of the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996-97.

Artest is infamously known for being suspended a record 73-games for exchanging punches with fans in Detroit in 2004. It was the longest suspension ever handed out for a fight during an NBA game.

In other signings, the Detroit Pistons inked guard Ben Gordon and forward Charlie Villanueva to multi-year contracts.and four-time all star Wallace agreed to a two-year deal with the Celtics.