http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2897870&name=ford_chad One possible destination for Ron Artest this summer? Houston, to be reunited with his former coach Rick Adelman. I'm told the Rockets have been quietly putting out feelers about Artest, and the price might be right. I hear it would cost the Rockets Bob Sura (he has only $1 million in salary protection next year), Kirk Snyder, Vasilis Spanoulis and this year's first-round draft pick. With Artest entering a player option year on his contract in the summer of 2008, it may be time to take the risk.
i doubt it will happen b/c the heat have more to offer and heat are interested. but if artest DOES come here, man we have 3 great perimeter defenders. eff the PF position, artest's strength alone can guard most PF outside of duncan/howard. and when we want to play big, tmac can play PG, battier SG, artest SF, PF, yao at C. damn thats a 6-7 and up lineup
hmm that is a tough for me personally. he would be great with yao and tmac. but he doesnt fill a big need position wise. essentially though its 2 2nd round draft picks, and one low 1st round draft pick for artest.
We should also go after Bibby and Shareef/Kenny Thomas too. Throw in Juwan and Head to make it happen.
wow.. this could be awesome news.. allows tmac to roam on offense while leaving the defensive assignments up to artest.. unfortunately... battier is somewhat redundant.. so he would have to be moved for a true 4... Either way, Artest is twice or maybe 3 times the player rashard lewis is... w/ the tenacity of a pitbull. May not be a nice guy..but I'd rather have him on our team than play against him.
Vspan isnt a deal breaker for me but i am a bit more worried about losing snyder and the pick...i dont expect the pick to contribute right away but its a good way of getting new talent on the cheap and not having to worry about keeping them in re: the cap. and if this deal for artest goes through i am fine with a large starting lineup besides mac plays more of a pg anyway go tmac bat ron hayes/howard yao bring rafer off the bench he may not like it but imo his skills are much more suited and utilized coming off the bench
I would do it in half a heartbeat, then a Battier-Lewis (let's pretend Rox throw in a future lotto protected first/sonics are over a barrell with lesis) swap becomes even more useful. Swap out howard for M. James. James McGrady Artest Lewis Yao Hayes Wells? Head Alston backup C/PF Not much rebounding in this lineup but it's interesting
I think I'd still keep Battier, unless the right PF or PG was available for him. Remember, one of our big weaknesses last year was our bench, and having Battier as a 6th man would help. That, and Artest is not the most dependable guy to play every game, with all the suspensions. Artest is pretty versatile on defense too, as he is strong enough to guard a lot of PF's in the paint...so we could have him and Battier on the court at the same time.
i really dont want anymore dirtbags on this team but then again he is a good player when he wants to be. like someone else mentioned, it really doesnt fill a need. if we assume bonzi stays, we have tmac, bonzi, battier and artest which all play essentially the same position.
this trade obviously woudl be a plus for the Rockets, but if you need Sura to get Rashard, you'd do that first. Shane, Tracy, Artest on teh court at the same time is a great defensive team, and fairly athletic, but we're not talkign about 3 speedsters here. That's fine and all, just saying I could see management trading Shane if they acquired Artest. If you could get a decent PG or PF out of it, then you'd have an upgrade at 2 starter positions.
He's 27 years old and was defensive player of the year three seasons ago. I think he is worth the risk, especially if they get to keep battier, as well.
say what? Lewis scores more, shoots a higher percentage from everywhere and rebounds more. Artest is a better defender and passer. Lewis is taller, quicker and more athletic. Artest does have the pitbull mentality. Artest is crazy and/or injured recently. Lewis has been injured recently. I'm not saying Rashard is the better player, but given that he's less of a duplicative fit for this team, he'd be the better option. The fact that you have to give up so little, and still can keep Shane to eitehr keep or use as trade bait, makes the Artest deal very attractive, though.
