Can we sit back and laugh at the supreme irony of this by the way? I actually really did briefly chortle when i read about this PM. I mean, I know Yao is the least likely guy to be traded, simply because it woud be such a blockbuster, but Yao, unlike Rafer, has substantial trade value. Rafer packed the combination of not having a lot of trade value, not having a super attractive deal (though not a bad one), and being a position where the Rockets had almost zero depth. Factoring all those things in, he's right up there with Yao as being super-unlikely to be traded, so . . . LOL.
I think without an injury to Nelson, and Stan Van Gundy as coach, Rafer would not have been traded for all the reasons you stated. It was a perfect storm that allowed him to get value to someone. DD
Wow, since Ron frequents this board I guess he might feel a little betrayed by the Rockets knowing he was shopped as much as he was. If anything, I still hope he gives us his all for the rest of the season as he auditions for another team. I much as I like the concept of Ron Artest on our team, I don't believe he really fit here, especially with him and T-Mac clashing and his isolation style of offense, etc. As anticlimactic as this trade deadline was, Rocket fans can definitely look forward to an interesting offseason this summer and a guaranteed better trade deadline next year! How much cap room are we expected to have this summer with all of our expiring contracts and trade exceptions, anyone?
I disagree. Stan had to be high on Rafer from the get-go. Probably coveted Hayes as well. When they found out they could trade Cook for him he probably cried in elation.
Not to mention the biggest irony of it all: Lowry probably should have been a Rocket in the first place. I still can't believe we didn't demand the #24 pick in 2006 as part of "the trade".
This round TMac won, Rafer lost out. It's Rafer's own fault because he doesn't have future presidential potentials. But since he goes to Orlando, a better situation there, everything is good, no one is too sad. The last one or two days, I read some news from Chinese sites that Yao would like Ron stay. I have no doult it is true Yao wants Ron to be here for the season at least, and Rockets are well aware of it. Now I am curious how Tmac will deal with the organization and teammates, and vice versa. No one believes he will have a surgury, but he sure got what he wanted at this point. It was the right thing to do from his point of view. It is a bussness for him and also for the Rockets organization. No one can belittle him just because he didn't want to get traded. Will he help the team? I hope so. But if he was still a negative influence on and off the court hurting the team, the organization should have the guts to tell him get lost. I believe without Tmac, the Rockets are still capable to achieve sth. special, and I am excited to see what Yao can do as the main guy for the first time to lead the team.
How? Clutch never mentioned anything about T-mac and Rafer feuding so how did you come to that conclusion?
probably making assumptions based on Rafer's critical (and right on) comments about TMac this season (though indirect) I hate Tmac. (this might be my version of "DD" at the end of my posts)
Honestly that is not a reason to think they feuded. Rafer made critical comments that were correct but never named T-mac. He was asked a question and he answered and that night Ron and T-mac fit the quote because both of them caused the most problems that night. I still don't get why people think Rafer is a cancer for those comments when what he said was true and he didn't name them.
I didn't come to that conclusion. I was just saying that is probably how the poster you quoted came to that conclusion I respected the fact that Rafer told it like it was. Good for him. I hate Tmac
From what I can piece together from the insiders and otherwise...Ron has played his part as a great team player to the media. But behind the scenes he's came late to meetings and practices, isn't making a great attempt at bonding with the team, and instead is treating this like a stepping stone for next year. Kind of like the summer intern who doesn't care about the job, he's just trying to fill up his resume. Am I close?
If the Rockets feel this way about him, then it makes you wonder why we didn't trade him. Clutch is probably feeling the same way.
Clutch already said in this thread that he is surprised Ron Artest wasn't traded. He also said they were looking to trade him for like a month.
can we sticky this? i really want to know what's been going on behind the scenes with the rockets. or would clutch open a new thread when the season's over and we dont resign artest? but what if we do resign artest? wont we get to hear the real story anymore? since he'd be staying with the team? from what doc rocket said, artest is willing to re sign for 13mil. that's pretty doable especially if ron takes the rockets to the wcf. conspiracy theories really are addicting
it takes 2 to tango. i guess it's a combination of the rockets couldn't find a good trade involving artest and that they still want to compete in the playoffs.
