Peja is becoming Mr. Air Ball nowadays, especially when it counts. He will be a FA this coming summer. There will be a team like Hawks who will overpay him, and Pacers would get nothing back for Artest. I think the deal I proposed makes sense to Pacers. In Head they get a swing man back who can shoot and defend and who is a rising star. In Wesley they get financial relief, and some help on D this season if it comes to that. And our #1 pick most likely will fall between 10-20, not very bad. Walsh said Pacers are not in the market for veterans. You have to read his lines to understand why Peja is not what they look for.
actually, i mean, even not dealing with the trade possibility in particular. What teams in the NBA have a WORSE supporting cast than we do? I'm thinking about it and my mind is blank Outsie of T-mac and Yao, our players are among the worst collection of role players/reserves in the league! I would love to be proven wrong but I don't see it, except for maybe the Hawks outside of Johnson/Harrington.
Other than Yao and Tmac, Head is the most valuable trade asset. I doubt Pacers would even talk if Head is not offered. Besides, I don't see Artest playing PF a lot in the west, so giving up Swift may be a problem for us.
Hawks, Bobcats, Raptors, Celtics, Lakers. I think Sura, Alston, Head, Swift all have potential to be above average role players. Deke hasn't played enough this season to show what he is capable of.
Just a sidenote: We were mentioned on NBATV by Peter Vescey (yeah, I know) as a team that was interested along with about 3 other teams. It is interesting that he would mention us, specifically, when probably every team in the league has called the Pacers about Artest. Have our discussions gone past preliminary? Personally, I'm not sure. I love Head and I absolutely, positively don't want to give up Stromile. So I'm kind of being pulled in two different directions because Artest is undeniably an excellent player at a great price. Let the speculating continue.
Not that it matters that much, but the one dude on the NBA Channel tonight (about 10 mintues ago) mentioned Houston SECOND, when mentioning teams that will make a run at Artest. Hmmm ... Right after the Peja rumors. That's the first I've heard of ANY Artest interest, outside of this board.
Yeah, the dude I say that stuff WASN'T Peter Vescey. Some other dude on ch. 601 Direct TV. Just clarifying.
Ohhh. My bad, I thought it was Vecsey because I wasn't paying attention until I heard the Rockets mentioned Lol. Believe it or not, it is a good thing it wasn't Vecsey anyway. Lol
Word by word, this is what Walsh said: "I'm not in the market for veterans. It has to make sense either for our future or financial sense or both." That, in my opinion, means no Peja.
Hey, that's OK. I wasn't trying to correct you or anything. I thought we saw two different segments. Who IS that guy? lol I still don't know. I'm doing other stuff, & have the NBA TV on behind me. I keep hearing him talking, but haven't gotten a name, haha. Personally, I'd give up Swift & Head for Artest. I know it's crazy, but I'd DO IT! wtf? I like both of those guys, but I like the idea of a Three-Headed Beast. Yao/T-Mac/Artest .. ohhhhhh, that'd be sweet.
Sounds like good, young players, maybe a pick and/or expiring contract. Do we still have a trade exception?
That was my initial proposal: Head+pick+Wesley. I don't know why many people think this proposal has no shot. I don't think we still have TE.
I'd give up anyone and any pick not named Yao or McGrady for Artest. While this may cause a chemistry issue, Artest is exactly what the Rockets need to put themselves in the next level. I think his aggressiveness can rub off on some of the teammates (hopefully the big men like Yao and especially Stromile). It will be a risk, but then again so was the McGrady pick up and that turned out very well.
So here's all the things the Rockets could combine to get Artest that Indiana might take: Derek Anderson: No one will miss him David Wesley: Ditto Jon Barry: Ditto again Stromile Swift: This would be a lot tougher to lose than the other guys, but it's a gamble I'm willing to make. Although, without Swift we would be pretty thin at power forward. Howard can start, but lonny baxter shouldn't be second option. We could go big with Yao and Deke, or small with Bowen or McGrady playing pf, but I would be more inclined to take Austin Croshere's contract off Indiana's hands. It's big, but Artest's small contract makes up for it and he's not dead weight. Head: I say this would be the hardest player to give up. He has shown flashes of being a solid defender and a legitimate three point threat. On a team short on youth, and athletic guards, Head brings both to the table. It would be especially tough if he's packaged with Swift. Rafer Alston: So far he hasn't panned out. I think we can survive without him. Draft pick: Rather keep it, but if I had to choose between Head and a draft pick, I would keep Head. I would keep Swift over a pick also. Moochie: Adios Moochie, it's been fun. Cash: Only Les Alexander cares about this. Yao or T-Mac: only an idiot would think the Rockets would offer these, or that Indiana would bother asking. Doesn't make sense financially either. Cap Relief: I trust in CD enough that if we took on bloated contracts it would only be to keep players we really want (like swift or head) and that the rockets are good about being able to maneuver even when there is no cap space. In short, I would be perfectly willing to take on bad contracts to take Artest if it meant keeping some of our younger players. Basically, other than Head, Swift and a draft pick (yao and t-mac don't count) all other rockets players are expendable. It's safe to assume the Rockets will trade at least one of those three, if not two for Artest. This is the order of priority for those three (from the one we want to most keep to the least) 1. Head 2. Swift 3. Draft pick Can you imagine if we swung Artest and kept both head and swift? Our team would be crazy: Head Artest McGrady Swift Yao I wonder if they would even want Head since they already have two legit pg's. I know Swift and O'Neal play the same position, but the league is so small anyway that they could get away with one of them at center. Besides, even if Swift doesn't develop much and only serves as a backup, he's a much cheaper, younger backup than croshere. Probably a better option than Foster too.
^^ I cannot imagine we keep both Head and Swift and get Artest. I cannot imagine Larry Bird being that dumb. I'd rather not to give up all three assets you listed above.
Point 1, Granger is filling in for Artest quite well. Point 2, Steph Jackson played SF during Artest's suspension. Move SJax back there, Granger as his backup, which allows for a more happier Fred Jones, ie he gets his game time at SG. Keeping Jones happy, he might be someone they can sign up for cheap going by James Jones's extension last year. All that said and done I think Rox can offer the best deal compared to all other clubs. Wesley the vet can still ball and has that valuable expiring contract to get them under the cap. The X-factor in the deal would be Luther head cheap rookie contract who's signed up until the end of the decade and can contribute substantial minutes now and will get even better. I reckon Artest will get on easy with T-Mac and Yao because of their personalities. He wants a new beginning Houston can give him that. The main question is would the Rockets want to give up Luther?
Objectively speaking, I think a trade to the Clippers would be the most beneficial for both teams. Clippers have a lot of great pieces the Pacers can choose from: Magette, Wilcox, Ross, Mobley, etc. Is Head or Swift better than those players? Dare I say it... if the Clippers get the toughness of Artest, combine that with an almost MVP season by Brand and the veteran leadership of Cassell... they are almost championship contenders. They took the Spurs to overtime tonight, at San Antonio.
