What Artest trade means for Houston, Sacramento, & the NBA

July 30 08

Outlaw Ron Artest will ride Lone Star style next season. And he’ll join two established superstars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, to give the Rockets a top posse.

So we’re clear: Houston just pulled off a controversial trade, acquiring the NBA’s most controversial player from Sacramento for Bobby Jackson, Donte Green, and a future first round draft pick.

This move has league-wide ramifications because unique assets like Artest rarely change teams. Lets measure the impact of this deal on the Rockets, Kings, and everybody else.

What this means for Houston:

1) In theory, the Ron-Ron, T-Mac, and Yao threesome can compete with the league’s best trios. Yes, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce have competition. Ditto for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.

In reality, Artest, when calm, brings blue-collar muscle to the finesse duo of McGrady and Yao. This is a positive. Skill should always be complemented by toughness and vice-versa. Look for the Rockets to play some mean half-court ‘D’ next year.

2) Artest only has a season remaining on his current deal. This gives the Rockets a one-year window to compete for an NBA Title before the lockdown defender can walk as an unrestricted free agent. Most importantly, the short-term contract limits the consequences for Houston if Artest gets, well, distracted.

So stakes are high in 08-09. Another first round playoff loss and Houston’s front office will drive Artest to the airport next July and probably drop McGrady and Yao there, too.

What this means for Sacramento:

1) The Kings are now younger and drama free. Artest, for all his talents, was a magnet for trouble. Case in point his opt-out clause. By deciding not to exercise this provision in late June, Artest complicated his future and wrecked his relationship with Sacramento’s owners.

2 Now the organization can focus on improving. No more distractions. Their priority is developing talented youngsters like Kevin Martin, John Salmons, and Beno Udrih.

What this means for the rest of the NBA:

1) A major talent in Artest has joined an established contender. But chemistry is an issue. Other teams will watch how Artest, McGrady, and Yao click.

2) Reports had Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Miami interested in Artest. These franchises will now focus on acquiring their plan b, so more trades could be coming.

Did Houston or Sacramento win the Artest trade? Get at us in the comment box below and come back to HoopsVibe The Blog for more NBA tidbits. Photo courtesy of BTM74.

10 Comments: What Artest trade means for Houston, Sacramento, & the (...)

Posted by
Adrian Stewart
on 07.31.2008

I believe this trade benefits both teams and here is the reason why... This is a good trade for the rockets I know that he has attitude problems on and of the court but he is reunited with Rick Aldeman who changed his attitude and made him into a good player. That means the rockets will have a leathal big three that can compete with the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs big three and a shot at the NBA finals. It is also a good trade for Sacramento, now you get rid of the nba’s most controversial player and your building for the future. You get back a vetran point guard in Bobby Jakaon who had great success for the kings early in his career can be a leader and mentor for the young guys. As for Donte’ Greene its a big disappointment that you can’t play for the rockets but you can accuatly get some playing time on the floor and team up with fellow rookie Jason Tompson. So I believe the Ron Artest trade benifits both teams. .

Posted by
nate
on 07.31.2008

Luis Scola will start and Battier will come off the bench. That’s OK cuz Battier is really a bench player talent wise. I know he does all "the little things" well but talent wise he can come off the bench and be a sixth man. He doesn’t have to start plus he doesn’t have much of an ego so he’ll do what the team needs him to do. .

Posted by
gm 4 hire
on 07.31.2008

Ithink the trade works out for both teams. The Rockets are a championship caliper team. With this move they just made a hell of a chest move. We all know yao will miss half of the season this year but with those lock down defenders in artest and battier the rockets will match up with anyone. Hopefully steve Francis will be healthy enough to provide bench help. The kings on the other hand just picked up Donte green a future star to team up with a young K mart, Udrith and hawes if he develops.. Bobby Jackson was just a team favorite the kings lovem him.. .

Posted by
mclutch
on 07.31.2008

the rockets are gonna be amazing next year, starting lineup: alston, tmac, artest, battier, yao...tho battier would be a tad small at the 4, he can still do it, cuz if the warriors can play al harrington at the 5 and still win games, i think battier can play the 4 with yao in the middle and artest coming over to help. and they’re going to have a pretty solid bench as well. not very deep, but solid. and this trade was a total steal for the rockets. not as big as the pau gasol heist, but will probably make just as big of an impact if not more. all they have to do is stay healthy. .

Posted by
john
on 07.30.2008

OK13 and SACTOWN. You are both idiots. .

Posted by

on 07.30.2008

bobby jack didn’t play that many minutes last season, rafer can lock in 30-40 min a game.. with artest..tmac slides to 2..and he can even slide to 1 and bring a 2 guard off the bench... you can bring luther head in as your back up and have tmac handle the ball .

Posted by

on 07.30.2008

as an opposing player its gonna suck having to deal with either battier or artest since artest can guard the 1-4 spot. also gives t-mac another player who can create their own shot. houston’s defense is gonna be sick. .

Posted by
SacTown
on 07.30.2008

Gooood Luck- I give him three months into the season before he gets in trouble with the law.Make sure you tell Ron to feed his dogs. SacTown .

Posted by
OK13
on 07.30.2008

;( Why did Rockets trade Bobby Jackson??? .

Posted by
J. Van Gundy
on 07.30.2008

This makes them the second or third best trio in the league. They were already a pretty good team without Yao. If they can stay healthy and consistent, Houston will have no problems winning in the playoffs. I love the make up of this team and the direction they’re headed, this is the missing piece .

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	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

What Artest trade means for Houston, Sacramento, & the NBA

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