I love this deal. Ron Artest reminds me a little of myself at times. A little volatile when someone gets under your skin but a good guy at heart
If they do not sign Landry. Use the MLE for Delonte West or Pargo. Sign Deke for Vet Min. Watch the destruction of the NBA.
The team's psychological stability will change with Ron Ron in the fold... This makes signing Deke much more important!
i think all you haters are gonna be pleasantly surprised that artest has mellowed with age. nothing to worry about.
We have his bird rights, so if he does well and the Rockets go far in the playoffs, I don't see any reason why Artest would move away from playing with two stars, his favorite coach, and a big contract with some Chinese endorsements.
I think that they should act as if it is a rental. Let Artest prove himself to be a good team player. If he likes the coach (which it sounds like he does) and the team, he'll resign with the Rockets.
The good news is that our team is filled with a lot of leadership type players (Alston, Deke if we sign him, Battier) and a bunch of unselfish players. No other knuckleheads really in the main rotation, so there really isn't anyone that he could butt heads with on the team. The whole "can he coexist with Tmac?" question is crap. Tmac didn't coexist with guys like Mike James that wouldn't pass the ball. Artest kind of has the same attitude, but he's actually good. Mike James was a chucker, Artest puts points on the board when he hogs the ball.
man when ron artest gets throught shutting down Kobe then Kobe will have to deal with shane battier off the bench
Dang! I didn't expect this at ALL!! Wow! I definitely am liking this trade even though if he's nuts or not.
Artest is not yet a psycho. I think he's just a very naughty boy who goes crazy sometimes. You may say Dennis Rodman is a psycho because he did something unusual and weird, but Artest did not. Yes, he hit girlfriends. It's bad, but so did Kidd and Iverson. The one who hit women would be a very good player. It's nba. It's all about talent. I don't care what the off-court issue if they give their best in every game.
This thread is waaayy to long to read beginning to end (though I probably will), but is there any way we can lock up Artest long-term. I know people will say let's wait and see how he performs, but assuming he has a great year, can we match any offer he gets from other teams?
Then take to the hills, boy. I hope you don't, because you've contributed some quality to the board since you've been here, but you gotta do what you gotta do. How can you not like this deal, though? There's almost no risk. We didn't lose anything that we depended on for success this season. NOTHING. If Artest blows up, and I don't think he will, we cut him loose and have the same freakin' team we would have had anyway, minus a rookie and a rotation player that is being replaced with someone better... Barry. How can you not like this deal? Artest offered to take a paycut if the Kings had kept Adelman. He likes the guy that much. He had a tremendous half a season playing for Rick. He knows the system. The dude is one of the very best defenders in the league and a former DPOY, in his prime. He averaged 20 points a game last season. Ron can pass as well as defend. He shot 38% from Downtown, which is not his forté. Geez, there are endless reasons to like this trade and only one reason not to... Artest could lose it ala Mad Max. You know something? I loved Vernon as a player. Like Artest, he was a steal. He helped bring us a championship and Ron would like nothing better than to get a ring. Like Artest, Max could be a defensive stud, was a defensive stud when he had his head in the game. Like Artest, he could get hot and score 30. UNLIKE Artest, Vernon wasn't consistent. Ron IS. You know what you will get every game. An easy trade to make and an easy risk to take, in my opinion.
Okay, I am probably posting this comment in the wrong thread but I think the Artest trade makes Battier somewhat expendable. My ideal starting lineup would probably be: Yao, Scola, Artest, McGrady, and Rafer. I'm still a little undecided on whether or not I would prefer Artest starting or coming off the bench(Battier starts at the 3, which would kind of contradict what my post is about). The real point of this post is does anyone think that with the addition of Derrick Rose in Chicago the Bulls would be willing to trade Hinrich for Battier and maybe Stevie Franchise or Luther Head? I would love this trade. I'm a huge fan of Battier's and also like the season Rafer(on a side note, I wonder how Rafer would react to having to come off the bench for the Rockets...valet parkers beware!) had last year. But, Hinrich would give the Rockets a big upgrade at the 1 and he is a great shooter throughout his career(I know his numbers were not good last year. he had a down year).
