SportingNews: Cato for Ron Artest If I am Houston GM, I will take this gamble. What do you guys think? http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=insidedishartestcarlisle&prov=tsn&type=lgns Inside Dish: Artest, Carlisle are on a collision course By Sean Deveney - SportingNews.com Folks in Chicago certainly remember the trouble between ex-Bulls SF Ron Artest and ex-Bulls coach Tim Floyd, who did not communicate well with Artest and certainly did not coddle him. Artest, who missed 12 games due to suspensions last season with Indiana, got gentle treatment from recently deposed Pacers coach Isiah Thomas but can't expect the same from new coach Rick Carlisle. Though Artest and Carlisle are professing their fondness for each other publicly, sources say the team is trying to move Artest. "If they don't trade him," says one source, "Carlisle is going to wind up taking a punch at some point." Minnesota has had interest in Artest, as well as Seattle. A deal with Houston -- involving C Kelvin Cato, perhaps -- makes sense, too. . . . The European championship is under way, and it's a time for NBA front-office folks to hold their collective breath. First, the good news: Clippers PG Marko Jaric, who plays for Serbia-Montenegro, has been outstanding and almost single-handedly has kept his team alive. Pistons C Mehmet Okur, playing for Turkey, has showed increased confidence, working defenders in the paint with his back to the basket. "He looked more well-rounded than I ever saw him," says one NBA executive. Now the bad news: Turkish SF Hedo Turkoglu, recently traded to the Spurs, seemingly has not recovered from his decreased playing time with the Kings last season and has lacked confidence and shown poor decision-making in a bad performance by Turkey (which won't be in the Olympics next summer). Kings SF Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro suffered a minor ankle injury, but with Stojakovic any ankle injury is cause for alarm. Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at sdeveney@sportingnews.com
Artest is a better player at his position than Cato.Cato has done poorly throughout his career expect for an improved effort last year but if he isn't on the team we won't have a backup center which will make things difficult for Yao. Besides if Carlisle can't get along with Artest why does anyone think that JVG will be able to have any success with him either?
Pretty good.... but we would have to many SF's... way to many... maybe a three team deal or something where we get a decent pf in return..
Good find, ymc. The unfortunate thing is you can't really tell what the author is saying. Did he just think Houston could be a good match, or is he saying Houston has talked about Artest? The two teams he mentioned before the Rockets reference (Minnesota and Seattle) are ones that he was reporting had shown interest, but when he mentioned Houston, he almost makes it sound hypothetical -- like he felt it would maybe work, but there was nothing to it.
We don't really have that many SFs. Next season, we only have Rice. He probably will play 20 min a game. Artest can also play 2 to relieve Cat for a quarter. We can also trade away Rice for a 2nd string C.
Hi Clutch, I understand well that the author doesn't think Houston has a great chance. But it does serve as a good talking point. Hey, maybe people from Rox read this and try to make a deal. You never know.
they would have to through in pollard or foster, and we would have to add maybe boki. either way with rons contract status we would need a 3rd team to be involved.
If we can get in a three way deal with Seattle and Indiana in which The Rockets get Brent Barry, Seattle get Artest, Indiana get Cato I would do it provided if we could pick up Jelani McCoy as a reserve center to cover for Cato's loss. Barry would finally give us the combo big guard who could improve our passing greatly.He could play alongside Francis like he did with Payton and Mobley could come off the bench. McCoy isn't as good as Cato but still could be a useful reserve center for us. I think that the writer is proposing the deal on his own instead of the Rockets approaching Indiana.
I would recommend to change the thread title, since "SportingNews: Cato for Ron Artest" sounds like this is an actual trade. It had me jumping out of my seat for a second. I checked at RealGM - there, it says that Ron Artest is a BYC player - that would make things more complicated...but I have a suggestion in case Utah does not get Terry (and it was said that the Hawks will definitely match): Houston trades: PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 16.8 minutes) C Kelvin Cato (4.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 17.1 minutes) Houston receives: SG Jamison Brewer (2.2 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.8 apg in 8.0 minutes) PG Jamaal Tinsley (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 7.5 apg in 30.6 minutes) SF Ron Artest (15.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg in 33.6 minutes) C Jarron Collins (5.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.6 apg in 19.1 minutes) Change in team outlook: +22.2 ppg, +4.7 rpg, and +10.1 apg. Indiana trades: SG Jamison Brewer (2.2 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.8 apg in 8.0 minutes) PG Jamaal Tinsley (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 7.5 apg in 30.6 minutes) PF Al Harrington (12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg in 30.1 minutes) SF Ron Artest (15.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg in 33.6 minutes) PG Fred Jones (1.2 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.3 apg in 6.0 minutes) Indiana receives: C Kelvin Cato (4.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 73 games) Change in team outlook: -34.4 ppg, -10.6 rpg, and -13.7 apg. Utah trades: C Jarron Collins (5.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.6 apg in 19.1 minutes) Utah receives: PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 82 games) PF Al Harrington (12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg in 82 games) PG Fred Jones (1.2 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.3 apg in 19 games) Change in team outlook: +12.2 ppg, +5.9 rpg, and +3.6 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED Due to Houston and Indiana being over the cap, the 15% trade rule is invoked. Houston and Indiana had to be no more than 115% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. ----------------------------------- If Bird does not like Tinsley (I think Tinsley was one of Isiah's favorites) and just wants to start over with O'Neal as the cornerstone, but other than that with a different team, this might not be as outlandish as it looks at first sight...Al Harrington might be another player that might not be Bird's favorite. I recently read an article saing that Bird is in love with Austin Croshere's game. Utah does not really have a point guard...even Moochie might be an upgrade to what they have. Plus, they would get a guy in Harrington that can really put some points on the board - basically for nothing. We would get a top backup for Francis, a pass-first point guard in Tinsley. We would get one of the best defenders in the league at the SF position, maybe the only guy in the whole league you can really try to put on the likes of Kobe. Plus, we would have a backup center in Jarron Collins. I only threw Brewer in there to make the salaries match better. Just imagine this starting five and the second unit (in brackets): PG: Francis (Tinsley) SG: Mobley (Piatkowski) SF: Artest (Rice/A. Griffin) PF: E. Griffin (Taylor) C: Yao Ming (Collins) I think by having Artest, all our defensive problems would be solved. We could then later still go and see what we could get for Rice with his expiring contract...a very good, intimidating and shot-blocking backup center or maybe even more.
I think Cato is a C somewhere between a starter and a back-up. However, he is too expensive to be a back-up. The lack of decent Cs in the league should make him a decent starter C somewhere else. We need a true (and cheap) back-up C, so that we can allocate our $$$ to somewhere else. :coo:
I make that trade. Get some intensity into the lineup, even if he is a bit of a nut job. Artest is an undeniable talent. He's young, and he's an absolute lockdown defender who has developed a reliable offensive game. IMO, there's not a better wing defender in the game right now than Ron Artest. Fact is, Cato is and will always be a backup for us as long as Yao is on the team. Any time you can trade a backup for a legit starter at a position with questions, especially when he hasn't turned 24 and has another 5+ years on a reasonable contract, it's not a difficult decision to make. Please come quick, season.
I agree with everything. NIKEstrad, how do you as one of the two resident cap gurus see the issue of Artest as a BYC player?
oh, and I pretty much agree with everything Nike and Clutch said. Cato is our toughest low post defender. But he costs a big chunk of moolah and only plays 15-18 minutes a game. Cato is a good rotation player who gives us depth. Artest is a differnce maker who could win us games. People clamor for an "enforcer" type all the time. Artest brings that. I'd do that deal and sign a scrubby center to play 15mpg if need be.
Wups. ymc, I think I accidentally edited your post above instead of responding to it originally. I believe I edited it back to what it was originally. Let me know if what you said above is what you said. I went ahead and changed your title, too. ... damn rookie admins.
