Ron Artest traded to the Houston Rockets!
For ten bucks, a slurpee, and a bag of Lay’s Stax
July 29, 2008 – Dr. Anklesnap
So let the laughter out. That’s right let out a good hearty laugh. I was in the middle of drinking a five alive when I read the news. Liquid came out of my nose. It hurt. Are you kidding me? In yet another ridiculous and unbelievably lopsided trade, the Sacramento Kings decided to move defensive specialist Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets for a solid bench player, the draft rights to Donte Greene, and a cool million in cash. Now just so I don’t sound too judgemental here, it should be noted that Bobby Jackson has a $6 million dollar salary that is set to come off the books at the end of next year. That is a strong asset to have for a future trade, or to use to give yourself some cap space to sign a bigger name free agent.
But this still seems so strange. Ever since the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers, it seems like there are a bunch of GM’s in the league trying to “one up” their competitors to see who can pull off the stupidest trade imaginable. Ron Artest is young, athletic, a past defensive player of the year, a solid scorer, and a real difference maker. He is the type of guy you want to go to battle with in a playoff series, and fortunately for the Rockets when you combine his toughness and defense with the offense of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, we will all undoubtedly have the chance to see that. Even the Petrie boys who shipped him.
The most confusing thing for me may not even be the ultimate trading of Artest. Heck we all saw it coming, after he wavered on whether or not he should have opted out of his contract, then demanded a trade, then took it back and said he wanted to stay….blah blah blah. Just another day in the life of Ron Artest. And it was obvious the Petrie brothers had enough. But after the blogosphere was set alive with the whispers of an Artest to Nuggets deal for Nene or Kleiza, then a Lakers deal for Lamar Odom, then an Artest to Mavericks deal for Stackhouse and Bass, all seemingly legit with upside for both teams, we are left with this…..Artest to the Rockets for squat.
I apologize B-Jax I love your game, and I am sure the fans in Sacramento will be happy to see you back in a Kings uniform, but you are not fooling anyone on this trade. The jig is up. This one is already written off by this Doc as one of the most lopsided and ridiculous trades of the off-season. Okay Mark Warkenstein from the Nuggets who moved Camby to the Clippers is off the hook. The new bone heads in town are the Petrie boys.
Okay Kings fans out there, what do you think about the move? Happy to see the puppy abuser leaving town? Happy with your return on investment?
Get out!! Seriously? that is such a bad trade for the Kings. But I don’t care cause I love Houston and they are getting another huge all-star superstar player for nada. Artest and Battier on defense will have the whole league on lock down.
Then TMAC and Ming can score like mad men. Oh yeah and Artest is a phenomenal scorer too!! This is so friggin awesome!!
Forget our win streak last year. get ready for a Rockets win streak to beat that this year! Skip runnin’ the point we have an unbeatable team.
am I the only one that doesn’t think this is a goodtrade for the rockets? with all of artest’s crazy problems that is not the type of thing you want to throw in the mix if you are serious about winning a title.
how long before he starts skipping practiccs to make rap albums or gets put in jailor whatever.
You guys are crazy. If Artest was so good and so awesome while in rebuilding mode the Kings would of shown him the money and build around him and Kevin Martin.
But he isnt! He is a menace, a distraction, he will tear the Rockets and then he will insult them. Ask kings or pacer fans. Everyone in Sactow were ecstatic when Ron-Ron arrived, few months later they felt sour taste in their mouths.
He isn’t as good as you think he is. Ultimately the Rocket-nation will be sorry for making such a stupid and ill advised gamble, fans will be frustrated and insulted, management will look foolish and Geoff Petrie will be laughing hysterically, just like Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird did.
Oh,.. and the btw, Rockets may go past the first round, but that’s it. They won’t make it past the second. By this time Ron Artist will likely be serving time for beating on his wife or thrashing someone’s SUV.
Damn, its good to be rid of Ron, for good!
@Zack he is definitely a distraction, and I don’t blame the Kings for wanting to unload him. The point is Ron Artest is still a valuable asset from a business perspective. Are you telling me Bobby Jackson and cash are the best offers the Kings received? Give me a break. The could have had Lamar Odom for pete’s sake. Are you telling me you wouldn’t like to see Odom paired wtih Kevin Martin? That would immediately improve the Kings outlook.
As much of a distraction as Artest was, he is a solid player who contributed on both ends of the floor for every team he played for. The Kings just guaranteed themselves a high lottery pick, maybe that’s their goal though. Seems to be a trend these days in NBA teams tanking full seasons to get a good pick.
Sure the Kings fans wanted to see Artest go, but i’m sure they wanted to get back equal value just as bad. Not ship him off for the sake of moving him. That would be acting rash and with emotion. Not a good combination in the business of professional sports.
Excellent article. Plenty of trades seem ‘lopsided’ at first, but turn out to save a team a lot of money or feature a young player with plenty of potential. Donte Green can be a starter in the NBA with a couple years of seasoning.
Still, this trade definitely shifts the power rankings in the Western Conference.
@Anklesnap See that’s the point. Kings didn’t only get BJax and cash, they got a late round pick, future star (Kevin Martin-like) in Donte Greene as well as 09 pick giving the Kings four 1st rounders in two years. And yes the Kings moved him just because they wanted to move him. He is THAT much of disease and rouge.
Right now everything is on paper and Rocket fans are happy. Just as Kings fans were happy when Ron was on the verge to be traded to Sacramento. Reports were coming out of Indiana how fans and management were jubilant of their divorce with Ron-Ron, at the time Kings fans didn’t care what was coming out of Indy. What everyone raved about is how cool Artest is, how great he plays and what a steal he is for the Kings…much like what Rocket fans are saying right now.
The thing is, I guess you have to have Artist on your team for a while and you’ll get a sense of what I am implying. You’ll want him out of your town for good.
To put it another words – for all he’s got, Artest isn’t worth because of all he isn’t.
He brings defense, he also brings trouble.
He plays hard, he also plays with the organization.
He is a lock-down defender, he is also a lock to make fool out of you.
He is banging on defenders, he also banging on his wife…or his dog…or his SUV with frying pan…or his locker room.
I like the Rockets and if he brings them to promise land I’d be happy. But this isn’t going to be the case. And if you think Kings fans are in some way affected by this trade, ask Pacer fans to verify this.
He wore down powerful Indiana team, and then stabbed them in the back and abused them.
He wore down Sacramento team, did pretty much the same.
If you are a Rocket fan you will be happy when the day come and Ron Artist out of your team and out of your life.
Okay i’m confused as to why there are two different “Anklesnap” writing posts here. haha. I’m assuming the second one is really “Zack” in disguise?
Anyhow Zack or whoever you make some good points except for the one about Indiana laughing and happy when they gave away Artest.
It has been a few years now and they are still one of the junk teams in the weaker Eastern Conference. When Artest was there they were a powerhouse. A legitimate contender to win the east. And in a couple of those seasons a contender to win the title. How can you say they are better off? If I was a fan in Indiana I would rather take Artest’s b.s. then get stuck with a crap team for years to come. Which will be what happens with the Kings now.
Peja left indiana right after the season he got traded to them for artest. Just like Bjax will either be let go or leave for greener pastures.
@Ryne you make a very good point about waiting to see how the trade will work out. Cause they may end up with a great player from their financial flex. But at the same time it’s similar to the Camby thing. Denver may end up long term with a great player by using their trade exception. But in the mean time it certainly is looked at as a lopsided trade.
The second “Anklesnap” is actually me. Silly mistake.
Indiana became a bad team when they thought they had reliable all star player in Ron Artest.
And thats the point. He wore them down and since Indy are mediocre.
Time to gauge the impact is needed for those who don’t know Artest and for those who never had him on their team.
Only time will tell Zack, but I think Rockets are going to be one of the best teams in the league now with Artest. He’s got enough raw talent that i’m willing to take that risk of dealing with his off court stuff. Tru Warrier….and all
It doesn’t matter who the Cockets get on their team. They will never get past the first round of the playoffs, again. Tracy “pug eye” Grady will be crying like a little bitch again this year. Hornets, Lakers, Utah, Spurs? There is not room for the Cockets in the West.
nbalive: artest is usually a good boy for the first season in a new city, so there is a minimum one year window. plus he is reunited with adelman, who he loved playing for. but you are right, the clock is ticking.
testy: i think you will be surprised with indiana, they are my darkhourse to compete for the 8th playoff spot this year. i agree they are top 3 in the west, after utah and new orleans.
as for the actual trade, i couldn’t see the kings doing any business with the lakers…too much history there. denver seemed like the viable option.