Lock and/or move if necessary. http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/2009/06/could-artest-be-on-the-lakers.html You think he would take less to go to one of those contending teams? One could argue he is the missing piece for each and every one of those teams.
If a half-decent team doesn't offer him $10+M per? Absolutely. Simple business: if the best offer out there (say, $8M per) is significantly less than your asking price (say, $12M per), you can either look like a chump and take the "devalued" offer or you can make yourself look good by saying you'll take a small money offer to go get a ring. To bad for him he can't talk to Detroit about an offer with their cap space. Our offer was already on the high end for what he is today as a player. I'm not interested in breaking the bank for him if we're on the verge of an overhaul. S&T him if possible for draft picks (+ filler)
"Yao Ming bonus", Deke had one. Both Deke & Artest had signed deals with the same chinese shoe company last season.
i dont know about you all, but i think ron likes houston, the fans love him here, and he even got the wafer cut just for the fans, and he can go sit with the fans whenever he wants, we wont cause problems.
I think Ron is worried about playing for a different coach. Or he should be. More than other (sane) players. If he goes to another team, who knows what kind of relationship he'll have and what role he'll end up having. In Houston, at least, he knows and is content with his position with the team. If I were in his shoes, I'd go to a contender, but then I don't have problems getting along with people.
Its all about the money. Nothing personal. If he still hold true to what he said at Kings, where he will take a paycut to play under Rick. I really hope so that will be the case. Other than that, hard for me to see him in a rox jersey next year.
I hope the lakers don't get him. He would really flourish in the triangle and I don't think he would care about touches when he has guys like Kobe, Pau, and Odom on his team. He only forces the issue when he thinks his team has no one who can create a shot.
as i predicted in my thread, ron will only receive MLE offers this summer. no team with cap to spend will spend it on him. The Myth of Rons Market Value
It seems like the Cavs are in every article I read. They are trying to sign EVERYONE just to keep Lebron in Cleveland.
It seems to me that this is a simple negotiation for Morey. You just tell Ron's agent to bring you the best offers, the highest outright and and most valuable SNT and The Rockets can either match or accept. #1 we want you and will pay the market price or #2 you can make your own deal because we respect you. Call us before the 8th.
I disagree- Ron knows that this is his last shot at a decent contract, when you've got a family to feed you'd take the extra few million and hope to catch on with a contender towards the end.
Taxes, shoe deals, quality of life, music deals, and opportunities after basketball should put Houston on par with anyone, even LA, where he certainly would lose marquee value being the third option. You can feed your family here for 4 years , $37 million.
I totally agree, isn't it much more expensive to live out in LA, where 6 million seems more like 3 million.
