Should we extend Artest now or wait?

Wasn't Artest angry with his agent? I think he's looking for someone to trust. How we gain that trust is going to be tricky. We can offer an extension at mid-season (I like the 4 or 5 year $10 million idea, which is excellent value if he doesn't go off his rocker... thus the "trust" thing), or we can have Artest wondering about our commitment to him and take a risk on an unhappy Ron-Ron. By mid-season, Adelman should have a very good idea of how Artest is going to pan out.

 

If you do not sign a long term deal, Artest becomes a one year rental. Not so low risk, especially if Donte Green develops into a rotation player.

 

First of all, when the hell is Morey getting back in the country, and is he allowed to speak with Artest before the 14th??

Artest is my favorite non-Rocket, and finding out we landed him for what we gave up had me ecstatic! If Artest, Yao Ming, Houston management, or anyone else does something to screw this up I am going to be pissed!

LOCK HIM UP!

1. If Artest plays well, his market value goes up and it is more money out of our pockets in the long run trying to match offers. Right now, his value is low, and I think he knows it. He also thinks that Houston doesn't need him right now (another bargaining chip). Pay half today what he'll be worth at the end of the season.

2. By giving him the money now, it shows that we have faith in him and want him in our long term plans. This will prevent any issues that may come up in the future about Houston "respecting" Artest and it squashes it before the season starts. A happy Artest ultimately plays better.

3. Artest is saying all the right things as far as his role on the team. But, if he's not taken care of, and is in fact "playing for a contract" you might see all of that "I'll be a 6th man", "I don't care about my shots", "it's Yao and T-Mac's team" stuff go out the window. Because he's no longer playing for Houston, he's playing to get himself a contract, and a smaller role might not help him.

4. As mentioned, can we really find something better at this value? probably not. He fell into our laps and we need to embrace it.

5. Like someone else said, treat this like he was a high-priority free agent (in a lot of ways he is). Right now, we are getting greedy because we don't have any competition (due to it being a trade and not free agency). If this same scenario were happening in the offseason we'd be throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at him to try and get him just to look at playing in Houston. Let's not get greedy now.

6. Finally, to each their own, but I don't look at this as "Ron playing hardball", or "Ron being underhanded/ manipulative", etc. This is Ron wanting to know that he's loved, and wanting to be taken care of. A player of his caliber saying he wants to come here, is excited, is focused, will do whatever is asked (including the dirty work), is a fan's wet dream. All he is asking is that Houston commit to him and not use him as a one-year rental and expiring contract. I don't think that is too much to ask at all considering that a week ago we never would have dreamed of signing him.

 

Tell him that the money that would've gone to extending his contract has been used to keep Adelman with the Rockets. That should satisfy him.

 

But, if he plays poorly, his market value will go down. Moreover, we'd probably not want him around and, if extended, we'd have to find a taker for a malcontent who played poorly the season before, which is not a good market to be in.

The HR wisdom in business today is that money is a demotivator. It'll give morale a short-term boost, but appetites grow faster than paychecks and, within 6 months, a worker will get no morale boost from his pay or job security. I know I've felt it. Do you want to give Artest a 5-year deal for a player contentment that lasts 6 months? What is a motivator is investment in a worker's development and future. In NBA terms, I'd think that'd be minutes, touches, etc.

Can't argue that.

Yes, we could find something better. This offseason, no. But, a long-term deal means ditching the 2010 plan. A lot of teams are aiming at 2010. But, we'd be coming into it with a lot of cap space and a very competitive team. For the big FAs, I think Houston would be high on the list of preferred destinations.

I don't get this argument. He's not a free agent, don't treat him like one. Next offseason, we'll be the team with his Bird Rights. For someone else to steal him, they'd have to sacrifice their precious 2009 cap space (and even more precious 2010 cap space) for him. For a guy of his talent, a team would. But, for a guy of his risk, I'm not so sure. If there is any FA of similar caliber, you'd go for the other guy first.

I haven't actually seen him ask Houston for an extension. Why jump the gun?

 

If some pretenders fall off. At the trade deadline would a package of "Artest + Landry +/ Alston" ever be enough for a Nash, or Andre Miller, or Hedo, or Joe Johnson?

 

if the team is showing good chemistry by the all-star break and we leading the division we should offer to extend his deal. But who knows if he is playing well we may not even want to sign early he will want to be a unrestricted free agent.

 

I wouldn't do it just yet. If we can't get deep into the playoffs with this team this year, we need to blow the whole thing up. You don't want a guy like Artest on the team as you are trying to rebuild.