Obviously everyone on this board wants at least one more big move to be made. A lot of names and rumors have popped up, but this is why I think Artest makes the most sense over any of the others. Artest - Very manageable salary. He is due 7.8 million next year then can opt out or play for 8.45 million the following year. That makes trading for him fairly low risk. Worst case it is 2 years at about 16.2 million dollars. If he goes nuts on us, his contract is still worth something year 2, as an expiring deal to help with cap relief. He is a monster defender and can score in the post and hit 3s. He is not an ideal PF, but definitely can play there in a pinch, probably better then Battier can. Most importantly, rumors appear to make it seem we could get him without giving up Battier, which would give us an incredible defensive team. Imagine closing out games with Yao, Artest, Battier, Tmac and James on the court. That is solid defense and everyone outside of Yao is a three point threat. Lewis - Great offensive player, but I think our need for more offense is at least decreased with James here and even more so if Artest was brought in. Getting Lewis would certaintly cost us Battier among others. It would also take a 6 year commitment at about 70-75 million dollars. With Yao and Tmac signed to max deals, that leaves very little for the rest of the team. I think we would end up the big three and a much worst supporting cast. Yes, Lewis can score but I think what Artest offers us on both ends is far greater then what Lewis offers on both ends. Wilcox - Very athletic PF. Could be great next to Yao, but seems to me like a Stromile Swift with a little better work ethic. Dont see him having the same impact as Artest or Lewis. He does have a reasonable 13.25 million salary over the next two years though. But he would likely cost us Battier and I would keep Shane over him. Bibby - He is not opting out to take far less money in Houston. Therefore, he is a 28 million dollar committment over the next two years. He is coming off a poor year and we just picked up James to help at PG. We would have to give up a lot to match salaries now that we dont have Juwon's contract, and I think our other needs outweigh what Bibby brings. Plus his defense is terrible and we know what quick PGs do to Yao when they blow by their defenders. Randolph - This is the biggest mistake. He comes with almost the same baggage as Artest. He is due more money then Yao over the next four years. He is a 20-10 guy but does most of his work down low. Yes Yao will be in the high post more this year, but he is still best down low. More importantly, Randolph isnt they type of defender to cover up Yao's lack of speed. Cripples the cap more then Lewis coming in would. Camby - I would like this addition a lot. He would be great playing next to Yao and could also be the backup C. His salary is reasonable at about 8 million a year over the next three years. His injury history and the fact that his value is high right now versus Artest's whose is low is why I pick Artest over Camby. Just think we would end up having to give up more to get Camby then Artest. Haslem - Would be a good fit on Houston. Can board and hit the jump shot. Salary is about 6.5 million a year for the next three years. Probably would have to trade Battier for him. Or we could even trade for Artest and when allowed to, trade Artest to Miami for him if the Kings like our package better then what Miami offers. What do you guys think. Everyone knows that Battier is our third best trading piece. So I figure if we can bring in a big time player and not have to give him up this works best for out team. With James on board, and if Artest is brought in, that bumps Shane to our fifth offensive option (maybe six with Bonzi), and makes him our second best perimeter defender.
I don't think we need a great ofensive player like Lewis. We need a solid guy who can post up knock down a 3 but he won't be a all star. We also need a PF who would rebound block and score sometimes cause in the paint we have Yao. So we need just SOLID players.
The Rockets not only have a huge hole at the PF, but we just traded away half our bench. We need to make moves that will allow us to net more rotation players than we give up. I think Artest would be a great fit for the Rockets. He would give the team an incredible defender and a toughness they have lacked. He's also a guy who is a reliable scorer when the game is on the line. Until Yao gets his turnovers under control and T-mac decides not to be pass happy we need a guy willing to be the goat or the hero. For all these reasons, I agree, Artest would be the best fit for Houston. Adelman made a Bonzi/Artest combo work in Sac town. If he can make it work along side of Yao and T-mac the Rockets would have a scary team. Camby and Haslem are my next preferences. Camby would give us a player that can rebound and block shots and he could be our PF or back up center when Yao is out of the game. If he can stay healthy he would be a great fit for us. Haslem would give us a great rebounding PF that has some range kind of like Juwan except a better defender and rebounder. He probably could be called on to give Yao a rest when the team decides to go small. It's going to be tough to basically rebuild a portion of your starting lineup and get some semblance of a bench without also losing some good pieces. I hate to see Head or Battier gone, but they are the team’s best trade pieces.
I think artest makes the most sense because he's tough.He's will be the toughest player on the rox as soon as he comes in. He will not give up easy plays to the baskets especially in the playoffs. He is a very tough post up player which would be a bonus when facing the spurs. Lets not get this twisted, the Spurs are the team to beat for the next 3yrs bar none. The rox need to build a team to beat the spurs and i think artest helps your cause more because bowen or manu will have trouble with him in the post. Rewind to the playoffs 2 yrs ago. Its hard to dribble penetrate and beat the spurs.
great analysis artest- obviously, artest does make the most sense because 1.comes in cheap(cost us only scarcely used rotation player) 2.low salary 3.low risk(only 2 yrs left in contract) 4. should work well under adelman, who I think can keep artest motivated. 5. allow us to utilize battier and other further in another possible trade. We may try an artest-battier-hayes combination in the PF spot, and if it doesn't work out, we can always trade battier away to get a real PF middle of next season lewis- bad contract, tighten our cap and limit us in the future. wilcox- mediocre defense and not a good shot blocker I think if we were to get a PF, it would probably hav to be in the next offseason. hereare no good PF this year as free agents that we like as long term solutions. Signing a guy like PJ brown for 1-2 year may make the most sense.
Camby won defensive player of the year last season, do you think the Nuggets would trade their starting center for Battier?
I want Artest, but I'm a little concerned about him fitting in. He was unhappy in IND because he wanted to be more involved in the offense. You put him on this team alongside Yao, Tracy, Mike James, potentially Bonzi Wells, and where exactly is he going to get the amount of offense he has always wanted?
Will someone start the supplemental thread to this one: Why smoking crack doesn't make sense. I swear, as a fan I don't want some crazy guy coming into our lineup and messing with the dynamic. Artest is like poison. It's not a mtter of if, but when he implodes what implications will it have on what team. Like drugs, Just Say No to Ron Artest.
was he really unhappy or is it just that he is ****ing nuts? when he is on he is one of the best all around players in the league, but i wouldnt ever want that guy on our team. way to unstable. plus he is just a bad person - beating his wife, dogfighting, bad rap albums.
Nuggets need to dump salary big time. I think they are going to have to get rid of either Nene, Camby or Kmart. Of course they would want to drop Kmart but who is going to trade for a max player who cant stay healthy at all, and never should have been a max player anyway. That leaves Camby and Nene. Nene just got a new deal, is much younger, and seems to have dedicated himself to bball. He lost weight and looked good late last year. No they dont want to trade Camby, but i know they dont want to pay the luxury tax even more. This was bound to happen once they added AI and resigned Melo to his max deal.
artest already plays at the fonde summer league.... PLUS houston would be a great home for him to continue his rapping career, since there's so much rap industry in h-town. (i'm only half-kidding)
The proposed trade was Snyder, the #26, Sura's contract, and Vspan. New rumor said it might be a deal involving Rafer which you would assume would mean Vspan stays. Either way we would have plenty of rotation players left. Our team would still be: Yao, Tmac, Battier, James, Artest, Bonzi, Hayes (likely resigned), Head, Rafer or Vspan, Novak, Reed, JL3, Deke or Jake (if resigned), and possibly a FA signed with the MLE (hopefully a PF). That would give us 14 guys right there so its not like we would have no rotation players left.
Reggie Evans and Najera are easier to move and combined would save them around 1.2M more than Camby. If they salary dump Camby at the very least they'd want a lottery pick included.
I see your argument. But like I said, at worst this is a two year experiment. And he was great in year one in Sacto. At least if he starts being a problem in year two in Houston, assuming he picks up his option and is even here for year two, we use him as the value of an expiring contract. You are right he has a lot of baggage, but I dont see another player we can bring that would have this kind of impact, without us giving up Shane or Luther. And, more importantly, it wouldnt commit us long term to anything.
I think the Nuggets might want to keep Najera as an expiring contract and get more value for him come trade deadline time. As for Evans, I dont think many teams think he is worth 4-5 million per year for the next four years. I agree with you though, it would be tough for us to get Camby. I just mentioned him cuz there are rumors Denver may look to move him.
That's true..... Snyder, #26, Sura, Vspan is a cheap price for Artest... But since Battier/Bonzi/Artest/Tmac all play the same wing position....I guess I am just not willing to trade away Battier...
I agree. If we can get Artest without giving up Battier we can call it a VERY successful offseason. We don't need Bibby or Francis with the James trade. Rashard Lewis would cost too much money & Battier. Artest is the nasty, imposing, defensive, rebounding monster this team needs. Add James, Artest, and a motivated Bonzi to our team and we can content for a title next year!
