[SacBee]Artest plans to opt out of contract after season

Hello RonRon and welcome to the Houston Rockets.

 

Keep Shane, don't resign Bonzi. Bonzi and Artest together is a volatile combination.

 

his baggage is worth the vet min.

get it down morey. he can replace bonzi after he gets his big fat contract.

 

I don't get why people want Artest here. He doesn't fit the offence, and he argues to get more ball. What ball do you guys expect him to get with T-mac and Yao here? People are already complaining about T-mac hogging the ball (despite coming up with many great passes yesterday). Unless he completely buys into being a 6th man i wouldn't want him (highly doubtful, he can't even coexist with Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby for Christs sake and they aren't even on the Yao T-mac level).

 

agreed

it certainly wouldnt hurt to have two SF/swingmen that can play the high level of defense they do, but damn I would spend every waking moment worried that Artest may go nutzoid again.


Im not a fan of him in any other arena but his talent on the court, the big problem becomes when he allows his mental issues to affect his oncourt play or chemistry with his teammates.

 

He doesn't seem that good anymore. The Kings were better with no-defense Peja than with Artest. I thought Artest was going to make a big difference for them, especially with the emergence of Kevin Martin. It seems like the King's defense hasn't improved much, but their offense is definitely worse. He has played in more than 56 games, only once in the last 4 years.

I can see him, T-Mac and Yao all out at once, if we get him. We don't need to become the home for handicapped stars.

 

I would trade Battier for him in a heartbeat. Artest is a real glue guy unlike Shane. Just make sure to extend his contract as well. Bonzi and Artest together almost took out the Spurs by themselves.

 

I disagree. Artest shoots too much whereas Battier doesn't shoot enough. With a healthy McGrady I prefer less shooting. Artest turns it over and commands the ball whereas Battier protects the possession and defers to more deserving offensive targets. I would take him over Wells for sure though. Imagine what JVG would have done with Artest, Battier, Hayes, (aside from creaming himself).

 

On reputation. They were able to co-exist a couple of seasons ago under Adelman. That said I don't believe there is enough minutes to go around if they added Artest and kept Bonzi.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...~2763~2445~901&teams=10~23~23~23~23&te=&cash=
Wells+Hayes+Head+Snyder (7.51M) for Artest (7.4M)

 

Sure, he's nuts and probably bluffing anyway (turning down $8.5 million?), but if he's interested you absolutely have to consider adding him.

All i'll say is we've done a great job of making incoming free agents look very, very bad. I'm sure that thought could linger in the back of his mind.

 

I thought Artest wanted to go to New York.

 

same thats what I heard

 

Assuming that Artest played for Kings I believe that this place would be atractive for him like it was for Bonzi when he tought to opt out.

Rick Adelman, his ex coach.

Now if he really wants a ring I believe he will choose other team.

 

i think artest is at a point in his career to consider teams that his style of play could improve to a championship caliber squad.

i think the rockets are a team like that. hope artest does too. he is a screwball, but ill take my chances on the loose cannon. we need a junkyard dog.

 

TMac is past his prime and we need somebody like Artest.
I would give them Battier and a 1st round if we can extend him.

 

Can I just remind you that Battier, himself, is past his prime. People in Sacramento complain that he dominates the ball just as much as McGrady does with far less success. He's also batsh!t crazy. You don't give that many assets for him when he's already announced he's opting out. Think about it.

 

What a fit! With all of the strong, veteran leaders we have on this team Ron will have no choice but be on his best behavior! (sarcasm off)

We don't have a single guy who would tell him, man to man, to get his **** together if he starts acting up. Even if we did he probably wouldn't listen. I wouldn't take him on this team if he played for free. His presence alone would destroy any chemistry this team tries build.

 

...would be Bonzi Well 2.0.

 

People always say it's not about the money. Wait until their agents, wives, girlfriends, portfolio managers, third cousins, and ride-pimper-outers get finished talking to them and see what they do then. Action define the man not words.