He wanted to Morey to say that Yao was the primary leader of the team, because the reporter's audience is primarily interested in Yao. It was interesting that Morey wouldn't say that. Instead of acknowledging Yao as "the most influential leader", he merely called him "the most influential player". Not quite the same.
I really hope Ron resigns with us. However, thesedays in the NBA, there are way too many cases of overpaying. We cannot afford (no pun) to overpay Ron, as we still have our eyes on 2010. This will highly depend on what the market for Artest looks like after the season.
Nothing these guys say now is certain, for all we know they have no plans on resigning Artest. Don't listen to higher-ups in sports when they say stuff like "We don't plan on trading him" or "We like our coach" and stuff like that. It would be silly of him to say "We don't plan on signing Artest..." it would cause upset within the team.
We HAVE to resign Artest at this point. Tracy McGrady's health is such a liability, that if we lose Artest are primary consistent scorers would be just Scola, Yao and hopefully Brooks. Wafer has shown promise but there is no telling if he will be able to keep it up if left in the starter position and the number of fairly tall athletic swing men we have on our roster hasn't increased.
I like the idea. Resign ron for 4yrs about 8-10m, trade tracy's contract for Deng. Trade Battier for TE.
Yeah, I see that. But man, Yao's low confidence in himself affecting his fans in China too? Seeking assurance from a money ball manager?
I haven't seen it mentioned, but could be that Artest was not traded in the end simply because an agreement in principle was finally reached by both sides on a new contract to be signed at the completion of this season...
I also think Money issues will definitely affect the contracts offered this summer. But Artest has been playing well when healthy and on his best behavior. If he keeps this up, I think there are going to be a few playoff-bound teams trying to sign away Artest from the Rox. Even during a bad economy, if teams feel Artest is the missing piece, like we did, they're going to make a serious offer. Keeping Ron is no lock.
I don't know, I just believe the question was answered as a PR move by management towards Ron. Considering Ron's name could be found everywhere in trade rumors, here, ESPN, etc that would not have happened if he was in "our plans." He didn't get traded probably because the Wizards didn't like the offer. I wouldn't mind seeing him here next season, if he's a factor in the playoffs and takes less bad/contested shots. He just needs to utilize his strengths more instead of weaknesses.
I like Deng too. McGrady makes about $10-12MM more than Luol though, so we would have to take some garbage back. Plus, why would they do it?
I disagree with you on the idea of trading Shane. Yes, he has slow down just a bit because of injury. From what I seen from the last couple games, I think he's turning the corner and return to being one of the best defensive player in the game. Shane is a good guy. He is a team player and always sacrificed for the good of the team. He always gives 110% on the court. We love him here in China. He is good role model for young people. He's so popular here in China, he probably gets more TV time than our president in China. Rockets would be stupid to trade him. Please stop your hate on Shane.
If Artest helps lead us to the second round, I say resign him for market value. If we have another second round exit I say go for a player like Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo is 6'10 and only 29 he has at least 3 to 4 productive years left in the league. He can shoot, has play making ability and great size at the 3, and can play the 4 or 2 in certain situations. Also he has great expierence with adlemans offensive sets. This season he is only making 6.8 mil. I would offer him a 4 year 40 mil deal with a team option on the 4th year.
i trust morey. if he wants to sign him, im happy. if he doesnt want to sign him, im still happy. morey= God of GMs
I think we have a good shot at signing him for a reasonable price, which is probably somewhere around 10 million. He's getting up there in age, but he's still a solid defender and can score. Artest has built up a reputation before coming to Houston as being a guy that can use strength to power up shots and play solid defense. He's been less than stellar so far this year, but we shouldn't base whether or not we sign him or not on this year. I mean, maybe you could make the argument that he doesn't fit well on this team for whatever reason, but you aren't going to convince anyone that Artest is a crappy player.
Rockets might not have the money to re-sign Artest. The situation they're in they really need McGrady healthy next season. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/...undup-090218&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines Rockets projected payroll for next season is around $64.56M. That means around $4.8M to use on at the least two players to meet the league's minimum of 13 players on the roster. Guaranteed for next season are: Brooks, Lowry McGrady, Barry Battier, Cook Scola, Landry, Dorsey Yao, Hayes
You make so many great points that show you understand the game well, then tear all of it down with your Battier issue. You should know better Leeb, Battier is a valuable role player for the Rockets who does all the dirty work. Sure, trade him for an upgrade, but a trade exception...come on. Ron has roughly 25 games to prove he belongs....so far the reviews are mixed. DD
Oh Good Lord. You were just being sarcastic, right? I hope give Ron no more than 3 years. Deng just has a horrible contract. As for Battier, I want him in Houston until he retires.
