^ (I think) The trade has already been submitted to the league office so the league has to say that this trade won't work before Sac can field other offers. If the league says it works, it doesn't matter if SAC gets a 3-way going with CLE and LAL picking up Kobe and Lebron - it's too late. The delay is caused because the trade has to wait until the 14th because that is when we can officially trade Greene.
The deal is on. Has to be. You can bet the Maloofs have looked into every angle, heard every offer. Seems they want to conserve future cap space, stockpile young talent, then have that talent mesh with whatever future free agent signings come down the pike. To be honest, a lot of things had to fall into place for the Rockets to land Artest, but I would bet he was their main target all along. I had read before the draft (and posted after the draft) that the Kings wanted Donte Greene. When we picked him up, he didn't seem the sort of player we would really covet; he won't really contribute for awhile. So this deal has been on the table for awhile, as other proposed trades for Artest have been refused (Dallas, the Fakers).
PG-Rafer Alston SG-Tracy McGrady SF-Shane Battier PF-Ron Artest C-Yao Ming OR PG-Rafer Alston SG-Tracy McGrady SF-Ron Artest PF-Luis Scola C-Yao Ming Take your pick!
Why don't you wait & see before you pass judgement. Btw, interesting moniker...lol. I think he's married though.
Man... and talk about a rotation. Lets say we start Artest at the 4 and Battier at the 3. You are then able to come off the bench with Scola and Barry (first two guys off the bench in this case)... and you could essentially take out anyone you want depending on the matchup and still have a solid line up. Or say we start Artest at the 3 and bring Battier off the bench. You are in a situation where you will always have a defensive stopper on the court. Or we could even bring Artest off the bench Ginobli style.
I dont know people would want Artest to play at 4 since we got Scola, Hayes, Dorsey, and possibly Landry....Yes Artest could be playing at the 4 for some minutes, but definitely not as a STARTER at ther 4... Get Battier off the bench as 6th man, cuz we all know Yao will need go to the bench by end of the 1st quarter to keep himself fresh for later in the game
IMO, Artest should start at the 3, Scola at the 4, Battier as the 6th man, but finish with Alston-McGrady-Battier-Artest-Yao, if the PF isn't named Amare.
I personally would rather have the Alston-Tmac-Battier-Artest-Yao lineup. You don't bring defense off the bench, you bring offense off the bench. Although... it wouldn't be the end of the world if we did bring Battier off the bench because you would always have a defensive stopper on the court and it wouldn't be like last year where I was like "man, that guy is killing us and Battier just went to the bench... get him back in the game quick!" To be honest, I would almost rather bring Artest off the bench. Because... you could bring him in for Tmac against teams where Battier is guarding the 2 (and Battier would essentially be the SG on offense) or bring him in for Yao against teams where Battier is guarding the 3 (and move Scola to the 5). That way one of your stars gets an early break.
Nobody is going to score on us with Artest and Battier on the court at the same time...that's pretty scary thought. Let Tmac play PG to bring the ball up. Battier SG and Artest SF....Scola or Chuck Hayes or even Dorsey at PF....that's going to be some SICK defense. Yao prevent them front penetrating and Battier and Artest preventing from getting any good look....OH MY GOD!!...this is so fun to watch!! I am seeing "lowest scoring points in the HISTORY of the NBA" in the making!!
I'm optimistic, with two reservations. Houston is a top 3 team if: (1) yao and mcgrady stay healthy and (2) artest doesn't cause an implosion.
Battier can come off the bench. I am sure that he will get significant play time especially with McGrady's minutes being limited. I say we trade landry if possible and keep Scola and Hayes. Maybe if we package Luther and Landry we might get someone decent?
