I texted 610...and they said this was BS. Only trade i would do if is Artest+Head+Hayes+cash for Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton
I'd trade Ron or TMac for Jameer Nelson. Obviously, ain't happening, but just pointing out, I think you could have Nelson on a line of his own, too. He's hitting for over 17 ppg on 51% shooting (45% from 3), 5.4 assists, 3.5 boards, under 2 turnovers per game. Is he having a breakout season? Well, kind of. He's always been solid, but his shot is so much better now he is definitely way above average as far as PG's go. When you look at Orlando, him, Hedo, Rashard, Dwight...it's not surprising why they're good...they have 4 really good players. But there is no way Orlando trades him...they don't even have any long-term contracts you could take back to entice them to do it. As for other PG possibilities, well, you're right, there are none. Devin Harris is probably also untouchable. Raymond Felton keeps popping up in my mind, but he is basically as bad a shooter as Rafer...which is impressive. The others are lateral moves...which means you'd do it but that wouldn't/shouldn't be the key to any trade. Ignoring Artest, the Rapotors might do something like Calderon/O'Neal for Tracy/Brooks/Head. The trade boils down to Tracy/Brooks for Calderon, which I think the Raptors win, but the Rockets could then try and move O'Neal in the offseason and take back a little bit less in salary or a trade exception, allowing them to resign Artest without luxury tax implications. And if you think the Rockets are playing really well now without TMac, and with Brooks playing pretty poorly, then this makes more sense. But I don't it's somethign worthy of doing, really. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, Morey pulls out of his hat.
Rumor Luther Being Shopped, which is much better one. Seriously, Ron is a tough guy who is really needed for this soft team, why do we shop him first? We have a few players who can be traded first, but Ron is not among them unless you can get a better deal which I do not think so.
You consider Luther one of our best defenders? At best, you would get an argument by some as to the defensive (and especially the offensive) prowess of Battier.
You have a much higher opinion of Nelson than I do. Man, I really don't see eye to eye with you on this one. A single player that gives you what you get out of 4 separate players...isn't that an ideal situation? One of our biggest downfalls in the past years has been injuries. In this one $7M player, you have a guy that can step in and fill almost any hole in the rotation. McGrady out? He can cover at the 2 at both ends and be our needed 2nd go-to guy. Yao out? He helps at the 4, with rebounding, and again as a 2nd scorer as Scola covers at 5. Scolandry out? He helps out at the 4 and the boards. Battier out/hobbled? We still have a stopper. And then, he's a one-man equalizer for the mismatches that have plagued us. The Jazz tortured us and Yao by playing Okur and Boozer from the outside - Artest can bother Boozer with Scola on Okur to take that away. McGrady's clearly done mixing it up in the paint (unless the miraculous happens) - Artest can go down there and be the bulldog we were hoping Bonzi would be. Punishing the Spurs backcourt on the blocks is a recipe for success. Having two stoppers is a gift almost no one else in the league has. Battier and Artest can trade off on Kobe, keeping them more fresh while wearing Kobe down all game. It's a lot tougher on Boston when a team has a stopper for both Allen and Pierce. He's a rental at worst. A cheap one at that. He's a hard worker and knows he's got serious money on the line. He's not pulling Bonzi's "they'll get what they're paying for" crap. Adelman DOES need to get a handle on his nutjob moments on offense. Part of that is beating into Ron that he can't break off and do his own thing, especially if it has him taking low percentage shots and a sub-40% FG average. Part of that is Rick putting Artest in good positions to score. Give him low post looks against smaller players. Work a give & go with Scola. Don't leave him on an island surrounded by bottom of the rotation guys. Artest has a LOT to give. He has Battier's D, but three times the offense. He can punish any team for doubling Yao or Tracy. He can move with the ball, unlike half our roster. He can crash the boards. I don't think moving him is in our best interest. Let's see what he brings once he returns with two good wheels. Evan
When he's inspired, which should be the case in the playoffs, the defensive difference between Artest and Battier isn't even close.
i don't like this rumor at all. i hope this is bs, we need artest for d and toughness . i hate rumors sometimes, If i haven't heard it on 610 am it's not true
They trade artest, they might not win a playoff series especiall against utah or sa. Yall can want a softie like miller, but just like against utah this season, sometimes u need that bull in the china shop. Ron is the toughest guy on the team without a doubt and when his ankle heals his lift will come back. I'd trade Shane before Ron anyday. Wafer is good right now, but fernandez was lighting up earlier too. When the games get into the 90's in the playoffs, I'd rather have the tracy/artest combo in the last 6mins than wafer,miller,shane and these other guys.
Morey have to choose between Battier and Artest...he must get assurance that Artest will be back next year..it's better to trade him now than get nothing in return...if we trade Battier, I think Detroit is the best destination.I've read an article that he dreamed of playing there..Rip or Prince would be very much ok for our team..
Von Wafer DOES NOT make Ron Artest expendable. Lets wait until Wafer actually does this for an entire year before calling him a star.
I'm half-believing that Clutch is the plugged-in source that 1560 uses (DocRocket often posted "I wonder why Clutch isn't chiming in on this"). Now Doc isn't posting and we've been given misdirection about which player the Rockets want to trade. Makes it easier to trade him when we don't seem so desperate to do so? Because in the end of things, Tmac has seemed to be the pain in the culo, not Ron-Ron.
Good call, once teams start studying Wafers strengths and weaknesses it changes everything. I think he has played incredibly well, but doing it for a full season is different.
Who cares, he's still got 3-4 good years left in him. He's 2 time MVP and got closer to the Finals then any of our stars, if you don't think he's hungry for a Championship and wouldn't help lead this team to the Finals you are wrong.
