Artest in....Keep Battier or trade to upgrade pg position?

At first thought of this i was saying yes trade Battier for a PG, maybe the AI deal if Morey could do it (the man can sell a shoes to a guy that doesn't have legs! ) But after thinking about it for awhile i like the idea of having Battier and Artest together on D, and T-Mac, Yao, Artest together on O. We could be top 3 on both sides of the ball! How many teams could say that?

 

My thoughts exactly.

Adding Artest means adding versatility in roster changes. Battier, Hayes, Novak, Head, Brooks, Rafer...all these guys should be able to land you a legit PG. Even Francis' expiring contract can be an asset.

I love the deal

 

keep battier!!! keep battier!

 

I would rather do a Battier and Alston for Billups. But neither will happen.

 

So i say keep battier.

 

Battier Francis Head for Varajeo and Snow?

 

I say keep battier and rafer... bring battier off the bench with scola and brooks and start dorsey with artest... that's what yao needs. and tmac too for that matter.

Starting lineup by EOY:
Rafer, Tmac, Artest, Dorsey, Yao

Bench:
Brooks, Battier, Scola, hopefully Landry...

We still need a back-up two... luther is the only achilles heal of this team right now.

 

Can we still sign Pietrus for the MLE?

 

Battier is a better player than Hinrich. Better perimeter defender, smarter, etc...

 

shane could be a legit 6'sman potential.

 

That is not the point, we have 4 quality wing players in Tmac, Battier, Barry and Artest...3 of which are quality starters.

We have a hole at the PG position, let's trade Battier to a team that needs a defensive SG/SF and can afford to give up a PG....like say Hinrich...

DD

 

upgrade to who? there is no one out there.....an upgrade over rafer means one of the stud pg's......there's no one out there that's a marked upgrade that isnt a stud and possible to land.

 

You know we have 3 RAs on the team now right?

 

I'm still pretty content with Alston at PG, as long as he doesn't have to shoot. It would be nice to package Novak, Singletary, Ewing Jr. over to LAC for a couple of 2nd round picks. Package Memphis' 09 2nd and one of LAC's 2nds and convert them into a late 1st.

 

no need to, artest can play PF and SF, battier for SF and SG, where's the conflict? btw they can both stay on court if needed to, ex: when against celtic, Artest on garnett, battier on pierce, than let Yao and Tmac do the offense...same to the lakers and suns

ps. finally rocket have someone to handle Carlos Boozer

Rocket already got a perfect rotation for next season:

C: Yao, Scolla
PF: Scolla, Artest, Landry(if he still in)
SF: Tmac, Artest, Battier
SG: Tmac, Battier, Head(never let this kid be a PG!!)
PG: SF13, Alston, AB

only one missing is a european PG lol lol

don't think getting AI is a good idea though

 

Mo Williams?!

 

I'm going to echo a few posts here. If moving Shane can result in a clear, proven upgrade at PG you do it. If not, you stick with Rafer and don't feel bad about that.

This past season I think Alston proved how important he is to this team and with the arrival of another guy who can score (so Skip doesn't have to) I think he becomes even more valuable. When you have a bunch of guys who can score you want a PG who can get the ball up the floor, protect the ball and play some defense. Rafer does all of those things well and is also a hell of a competitor.

Unless Brooks makes some huge strides I still think a backup PG good for 15-20 minutes of NBA level PG play is still needed but not so much that you give up Shane. Luther, Steve, Novak and even Hayes if need be should be able to net a serviceable backup so Rafer can get some rest. If nothing is available then you still have a team with fantastic passers at the SG position in Tmac and Barry. The overall skill and talent level of this team now makes so many previously big holes seem so much smaller now.

 

getting anyone better than alston is going to be tough, alston is second tier pg, but any improvement over him would mean first tier and there arn't any out there.

besides we still need backups at the 2 and 3, which battier would be handy and he wouldn't mind playing lesser role. I think battier is much more comfortable playing defense than offense.

 

What about Battier for a PG prospect and a high number 1?

I think Battier has to be traded now.

DD

 

DD, I agree that point guard is the one weakness on this team now, but I'm salivating over the idea of having Shane come off the bench as 6th man.