the other problem with artest is he has a player option the season after. so he's a one year rental. unlesss he came via a pure salary dump, ie sura+lucas+snyder. i'd be wary of jim doing another posey and leave the team with nothing.
Maybe this has been addressed. I like Artest, forgetting for a moment about him being a head case. CAN ARTEST REALLY PLAY POWER FORWARD? Won't we be too short up front with say Yao, Battier and Artest? Or is Yao so big we don't really need a normal height PF?
I dont see why Artest could not be as effective as Hayes with rebounding at the PF spot. More importantly the other teams PF would have to honor his shooting so they couldnt immediately double down on Yao. Also, if Bonzi stays, having him on the court with Artest helps in the rebounding department, assuming he isnt the Bonzi of last year. I think a lineup of Yao, Artest, Battier, Wells, and James is solid for when Tmac is on the bench and the team usually hits the offensive wall. Wells helps make up for Artest rebounding at the four and Shane rebounding at the 3. Plus the defense of Artest and Battier help cover for Yao's lack of speed. James and Artest give Yao guys who can create their own shot. Shane is there to hit the three, and if Yao is in the high post, you can put Bonzi down low. When Tmac is in, you know you can have Chuck at the 4 cuz they work well together and Chuck can hold his own as a PF for 20-25 min a game. Also remember we would still have the MLE to find a PF to take some of those minutes as well.
Artest can play PF against 90% off the teams in the league. On those few match ups like Garnett/Duncan/Jermaine where he wouldn't match up well, there is nobody in the league that would match up well either. You still need him on the floor to spread the floor offensively and create space for Yao. Who else could we get that would be better? We're best off to take him if he is there and play him alongside Yao, McGrady and Battier. Remember, we still have a Hayes coming back, and what if we could pick up a second rounder and somebody like Sean Williams is sitting there? Or what if we could get Cato to come in for the minimum? There's your long, tall defender to throw at a posting Duncan if Duncan starts dominating on the block. However, I still believe the best defense against guys like Duncan Garnett Boozer is to make them have to defend out at the 3 point line or be isolated on Yao in the post. No teams want to have to do that. If we can get Artest for basically trash, then there's no doubt we have to do it. I'd give up anything besides 111, Battier, and VSpan.
Jonathan Feigen thinks he can play PF, but his newest blog post suggests that the Rockets are not interested. http://blogs.chron.com/nba/
tough call with Artest; both he a TMAC have strong personalities/egos which could be exactly what the Rockets need (ala MJ/Rodman) or... completely wreck the team's dynamics if the two rub each other wrong by mid-season personally i'd rather look into every traditional PF option first (i read Wilcox, Frye mentioned) before rollin' the dice w/Artest; i like him 'n all - extreme defender, can score, added toughness; but just not sold he's the ticket past the 1st round either
How many MORE 2-year experiments we can have BEFORE Tracy McGrady retires and Yao Ming becomes 30 years old? The last time I read, Ron Artest won't come cheap; he aimed for at least US$10M contract/per annum. Besides, 1 nutcase (Bonzi Wells) on the roster is more than enough. I don't want 2 knuckleheads at the same time.
i like artest over battier because artest can create his own shot and thats what i think we need. i've had enough of having to watch t-mac wear himself out night in and night out trying to do everything for this team. with more players who can create maybe we can use t-mac to just score, which under adelman i think is very likely and i'm very excited about it.
Battier is normal height for his position YAO is a giant so all you have to be concerned with is Artest I think he can do it.
Whoever we sign is always going to be an experiment. Signing Lewis will be a 6 year experiment, Bibby would be a two year experiment, Vspan is an experiment. Stro was a five year experiment that luckily we turned into a one year experiment. As for Artest, he is signed to a contract. He isnt going to be able to ask for 10 million cuz he is signed for 8. I would not trade Battier for Artest straight up, due to the baggage Artest has. But if you can bring him in and give up two guys who never played last year, a late first round pick, and an expiring deal, I would do it.
I like the artest trade, but i doubt kings would do it. Artest at most is a one year rental, which if artest is having a great year, then he will sure to sign up again, if not he dump him after a year. artest no matter what is an upgrade to us. artest will sure to enjoy the vest rich mass market in China by playing next to Yao, just ask battier.
People keep wanting to put this issue to the side to talk about all of Artest's compelling abilities. Yeah, he's a good player; he's tough, etc. That he's a head case negates all of that. I don't buy that Artest is a low-risk investment because his contract is short and cheap (it is cheap, btw, because he is a head case). That is two years is McGrady's dwindling window where we will be held hostage by his mercurial personality. His presence could literally cost us our championship in the McGrady era. That also represents talent we gave up in trade we could have used for someone else. That's court-time we could have used developing somone else. That's locker-room culture that could be poisoned, even after Artest is gone. That could be other players who are alienated, or else take after Artest, or implicitly learn that Artest's prima donna behavior is acceptable. And, if we were to get Artest, we'd have to have to have to ship out Bonzi Wells. I'd hate to see the two of them together, mutually reinforcing bad behaviors. One is bad enough.
We need talent. Last year was an example of what happens without it. If we can get Ron Artest without giving up Tmac,Yao or Shane, its a no Brainer. Ron Artest on his game is arguably a more valuable player than Tmac. He has also had a good history with Adelman, Imagine Bonzi and Artest on the court when Tmac and Yao rest. These two guys alone almost beat the Spurs in 7.
I think we should go after Gerald Wallace. Free Agent, gets to the line often (a Rock weakness). High percentage around the basket. Negative is he's hurt occasionally. His stats are probably Morey material. I think we might go after him.
Gerald Wallace is out at the MLE we have. I propose a larger trade between the Kings and Rockets. We resign Jake Tsakalidis to a 1yr 2 million dollar deal. Send Tsak, Sura Snyder V-span 26th pick (Big Jake and Sura are cut) Recieve Artest Abdur Rahim We get a PF to play in our gaping hole and solidify our guard rotation. Abdur Rahim can fit in nicely.
Abdur-Rahim is another Juwan Howard, overrated mediocre midrange jump shot, no defense, and that's all you got. I do not want a Juwan rerun.
Or it could BUY us that championship. All I know is, Mike James is NOT going to get it done. We're not close, guys. We're just not even CLOSE to a championship. It's going to take a big gamble to get us there. Now is not the time to get weak in the knees. Now is the time to be bold. What did we say we needed after the Utah series? TALENT. Here is our opportunity to get some REAL talent. Not Battier talent. Not Wilcox talent. Not James talent. Real, honest-to-God ALL-STAR talent. Let's give Adelman some credit and roll the dice on this guy. Because without some REAL talent coming in, we're just NOT CLOSE to any real success in the post-season.
i'd rather have kt than rahim, but his contract is out there man. i thought morey was trying to fix our contract situation. not blow it all up on huge ones.
