What he achieved? You mean taking weird, off-balance threes for no reason? Looking as if he barely understood the concept of dribbling a basketball? Look, I'm a rockets fan, houston born and raised and, at times, I loved Ron's contribution to the team, but he didn't prove he's worth sacrificing a chance at signing one of the free agents of next summer.
I don't know why Ron's agent doesn't see this as good. With all other teams structuring themsleves financially for 2010, only a few teams will get the cream of the crop, leaving all the other teams with a crap load of money to spend on the next tier of players. Ron is at the top of that next tier. If he stays healthy. But if he goes to the Lakers.....Arrrrghh!!
Hahahahah Ron Artest is trolling everyone and you are all biting so hard He's joking around, that's all
right??? wake up folks...the whole concept of holding on to players like ron as finishing touches on a yao/tracy contender are done. they're over. they're made of glass. we're moving on. guys like ron don't have a place on teams that are entering rebuilding phases.
Maybe we can still work a sign and trade for the right deal. I hate to know we gave up 2 number 1's and have nothing to show for it. Looks like a deal the Astros would make.
I like Artest as much as the next guy but think of the alternative. What if we signed Artest to a 4 year 30 plus mil contract and then found out Yao was out. We would be looking for ome way to dump Ron's salary. Instead we are players in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes. ANd may pull off a good draft pick in a better Lottery. We have a lot of young players and should pickup a decent backup for Yao plus Dorsey will get some real minutes to prove if he is worthy of a spot. Not to mention Yao may comeback better plus we will definitely manage his minutes better. Who knows we might even manage a competitive season out of the year and make the playoffs. The first half of the season will be like watching summer league. WIth Artest and wafer and Tmac out along with Yao, we will see alot of Taylor and White and dorsey. Aso if tmac and Yao comeback midseason and we are close to 500 than we may make a push for a playoff spot. Not so important but still fun to watcch a young team in the playoffs
Rockets might not even make the playoffs next year and if they do out first round. No heart = no chance.
BSPN is taking it and running with it. It was their lead story for the 8am Sportscenter. They had some writer from the Cleveland newspaper talking about the Cavs getting this guy. BUT he even felt it was still up in the air. He didn't really feel that LeBron's personality and Ron's personality really would not mix. Now as I write this, they are saying the Cavs are chasing Ariza too......
I would have rather us keep our youngster and draft pick instead of trading for artest in that case. This sucks artest brought a different type of swag to this team that we never had. Now we are going to go back to being chumps
I like/liked having Ron on this team. He gave us something we haven't had in years. His grit and toughness are appreciated. I always disliked being known as the NBA's nice guys. It was cool for awhile, but Ron gave us a no-nonsense reputation. Dude stood up to Tracy(Allegedly), Kobe and the Lakers. He supported Yao whenever he had the chance. In my mind, Ron was a great fit here, even with his bad shot selection. He just wanted to win. Some players take those shots to pad thier individual score sheet. Okay...end of my small rant.
Thanks for the year Ron, can't say it was great because I watched every single game but there were some definite highs but some mixed with plenty of lows in your play.
30 millions sounds like a fair deal for both sides. It is about 10 millions a year and I think Ron deserves it (sure he wants more money). But now we have to anwer one quesition. Without Yao, do we really need him?
Has anyone else read this? All of this is based on a fake tweet. Negotiations haven't begun nor have any offers been made per Artest's agent.
The original report from Fox 26 never said the Rockets had already made an offer or that negotiations had begun...it said this: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/nba/090701_artest_return_unlikely League sources told FOX 26 the Rockets would be willing to offer Artest a one-year contract at best. The sources said because of that the chances of Artest resigning with Houston are remote.
I think we might as well let him go. He's not going to take a one-year deal, which is all we should offer at this point with all the uncertainty. No sense in tying our hands for the future if we do have to fully rebuild. I really grew to like the guy but he's past his prime, is a liability most nights on offense, and holding onto him would just be done for reasons of denial. Let our young guys grow this year, and make a big move at the next opportunity, whether it be now, this season, or next offseason.
