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I think you'd be hard pressed to find many fans or basketball people outside of Dallas that would put Howard anywhere near Artest's level. I mean it's not even close, really. Artest might just be the premier defender in all of basketball, and he has a complimentary offensive game to go with it.
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How is Artest's offensive game any better than Howard's offensive game? In the past 3 seasons, their PSA (points per shots attempt) numbers are 1.04 for Artest and 1.03 for Howard. This year it's 1.06 for each of them. Artest thinks he's a lot better than he actually is offensively, which makes him (in my mind at least) less valuable on offense than Howard. Plus, I think Howard still has room for growth in his offensive game, whereas I think Artest pretty much is what he is. Either way, I don't think there's any way that Artest should be considered superior to Howard offensively.
On the defensive end, Artest is clearly better when and if he's focused, but how often does that happen? This year, Howard's "counterpart PER" as tracked by 82games.com is 3 points lower than Artest's similar stat. Based on what you can count on from the two players on a nightly basis, I'll take Howard every time.
As for how they're ranked, dude is right. In fact, Howard's PER ranking is higher than Artest's ranking.
If Artest has his head screwed on straight, I agree that the Pacers wouldn't deal him. Then again, he doesn't, and that means that any team that wants to trade for him should and will take his "mental status" into account.
Say no to Artest.