Indiana CEO Donnie Walsh hopes to pull the trigger on a deal to move Ron Artest in the coming days. As Walsh explained last week, it would take something "unusual" for him to back off his decision to trade Artest.

"And I haven't even given any thought to what 'unusual' is," he said. "No, I don't see myself coming up with that."

So Artest is going to get his wish. He's in limbo now. The Pacers are keeping him as far away from teammates as possible. Apparently, that's the way the players want it. Last week, he sent word that he wanted to meet with teammates to give his side, but they turned him down.

In the meantime, Walsh is considering many options.

"With as many teams that have called me about Ronny, they obviously don't think he's going to be a problem," Walsh said. "The surprising thing is that most of the interest I've gotten has come from teams out West. Which makes some sense, because if you look at the standings, there are 10 or 11 teams in contention. If you put Ron Artest on any one of those, I'll guarantee you that they will jump up in the standings."

Some of the teams Walsh referred to include the Clippers, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Warriors. Even the Lakers are said to have interest. The Pacers feel they have enough players to man the point-guard spot. So they're looking to package backup Anthony Johnson in any deal. They're also well over the salary cap this year ($79 million) and next season ($69 million), so they'd also like to move some bad contracts when they deal Artest.

Walsh would prefer to get a young player and a draft pick in return. But don't look for him to bring in another small forward, not after what he's seen out of rookie Danny Granger.

"He's got a chance to be a player on the par of Ron Artest someday," said Walsh of his first-round pick, taken 17th overall in June. "He's not that right now. But the way he's playing, it's making it easier for us not to rush into any deal."