Artest to rockets a done deal?

[dockingsched]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5914062.html

In what had been a quiet offseason, the Rockets are about to make a lot of noise.

In a stunning move designed to push the Rockets from solid playoff team toward legitimate NBA contenders, the Rockets reached agreement Tuesday with the Sacramento Kings to acquire gifted but controversial forward Ron Artest, according to an NBA executive with knowledge of the deal.

The Rockets will give up guard Bobby Jackson, a No. 1 draft pick next season and another player that the individual with knowledge of the trade could not name. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey could not be immediately reached for comment.

Because of contract considerations, the trade will not be announced until Aug. 14, though that would indicate the deal could include Rockets’ first round draft pick Donte’ Green. Green is not permitted to be traded until then, one month from when he signed with the Rockets.

edit: article isn't working but if you go to the houston chronicle home page:

Rockets land forward Artest
— The Sacramento Kings star comes to Toyota Center in exchange for Bobby Jackson, an unidentified player and a first-round pick.

[Sedale Threatt]

Good for them, but with Battier I'm not sure exactly how he fits on that team. Move Battier to the 2 and McGrady to the 1? Otherwise, where does he play? I don't buy the writer's explanation that he'll finish games at the 4...huh?

[Lost Angel]

who is the unidentified player?


Battier? Greene?


Lakers should try to trade for Battier/Scola by using Odom

[wfiles]

Thanks Mitch. Other gm's are making trades while he's on vacation.

[That Nicka]

damn... Houston is legit

[That Nicka]

I wonder if the un-named player is Battier? What would they do with both Battier and Artest?

[crazyeights]

For Bobby Jackson a number 1 and Donte Green (supposedly)? What's the deal there? How good is Green/is B-Jax an expiring?

[dockingsched]

bjax is expiring so its basically artest for two first round picks for a team that is going into rebuilding mode. not bad. i wonder if there will be the outcry of the kings trading a all-star quality player to a conference rival for picks like there was for gasol.

[That Nicka]

Alston
McGrady
Artest/Battier
Scola/Landry
Yao


I would say we should trade Odom to them for Battier and Landry or Scola, but McGrady/Artest/Odom/Yao would be deadly together

[daddyfivestar]

Love realgm headline

Kings to acquire Artest.

I think this moves Rox ahead of SA and UTA.

As for PT, 96 wing minutes can be easily spread between Tmac, Battier and Ron.
,

[crazyeights]

bjax is expiring so its basically artest for two first round picks for a team that is going into rebuilding mode. not bad. i wonder if there will be the outcry of the kings trading a all-star quality player to a conference rival for picks like there was for gasol.

What's funny is some people say that Artest is a top 5 talent in the game, I don't hear that kind of talk for Pau.

Also people hate Kwame Brown. They'll probably say Bobby Jackson is loved by the Kings. A return home to where he had his best years. A steady vet. Great trade. Fair trade. Best for both teams. I love it. Fantastic.

[YiYaoYue]

nevermind... misread.

now the question is are we willing to make houston even stronger by trading odom for battier? Is greene that good that its worth more than a larger expiring in odom?

[Sedale Threatt]

Love realgm headline

Kings to acquire Artest.

I think this moves Rox ahead of SA and UTA.

As for PT, 96 wing minutes can be easily spread between Tmac, Battier and Ron.
,

Leaving them at about, what, 32 minutes apiece? That's not enough for any of them. Of course, the chances that McGrady makes it through the season in one piece are about nil, and there are probably some creative lineups Adelman can use to get them all on the court more. By no means is this a bad trade, at all, especially considering the meager price they paid. It just seems like they're duplicating a little bit by adding one of the few guys who can do what Battier does.

[dockingsched]

How the hell is this better than what lakers could offer?

Odom - HUGE expiring (twice that of bjax)
Future 1st pick (will be low for houston too) (the one memphis didnt take in between the two years)
Ariza or Farmar - a young proven player
and them unloading the bad contract of kenny thomas?

I knew mitch wasn't doing squat...

the lakers couldn't offer a first round pick until 2012. they can't trade that 2009 first or 2011. ariza is expiring, meaning he'd be due a new contract, something a rebuilding team wouldn't want. i don't think dr. buss was ever interested in taking on kenny thomas for 2 yrs while also having to extend artest. it basically comes down to money for the lakers and rebuilding pieces for the kings. wasn't a match.

[tayzer]

They won't improve by much. Battier to me is a better defender than Artest. Artest likes to chuck his shoots and I've seen him shoot his team out of many games. Battier takes quality shots and makes them, which is more important. The only thing they improve is the bench if Battier moves back.

But for the Laker the trade would help them the most because they are extreme weak at the SF spot.

[YiYaoYue]

How the hell is this better than what lakers could offer?

Odom - HUGE expiring (twice that of bjax)
Future 1st pick (will be low for houston too) (the one memphis didnt take in between the two years)
Ariza or Farmar - a young proven player
and them unloading the bad contract of kenny thomas?

I knew mitch wasn't doing squat...

the lakers couldn't offer a first round pick until 2012. they can't trade that 2009 first or 2011. ariza is expiring, meaning he'd be due a new contract, something a rebuilding team wouldn't want. i don't think dr. buss was ever interested in taking on kenny thomas for 2 yrs while also having to extend artest. it basically comes down to money for the lakers and rebuilding pieces for the kings. wasn't a match.

yea i didnt see all that... just thought it was bjax for artest and pick.

thought lakers still had 2010 pick as the two other picks (2009/2011) went to memphis.

[Sedale Threatt]

How the hell is this better than what lakers could offer?

Odom - HUGE expiring (twice that of bjax)
Future 1st pick (will be low for houston too) (the one memphis didnt take in between the two years)
Ariza or Farmar - a young proven player
and them unloading the bad contract of kenny thomas?

I knew mitch wasn't doing squat...

the lakers couldn't offer a first round pick until 2012. they can't trade that 2009 first or 2011. ariza is expiring, meaning he'd be due a new contract, something a rebuilding team wouldn't want. i don't think dr. buss was ever interested in taking on kenny thomas for 2 yrs while also having to extend artest. it basically comes down to money for the lakers and rebuilding pieces for the kings. wasn't a match.

^ Exactly. If you add the extension Bynum is probably going to sign, our payroll's going to be pushing $90 million. And that's before Kobe opts out for yet another big raise, or Farmar hits free agency. Even without Thomas being involved, we have no idea if the Lakers were even interested in giving Artest the big deal he wanted. I held out hope, too, but when you looked at all the factors it was always going to be a long shot.

[YiYaoYue]

stop killing me over a panic post.. i realized my mistake a few minutes after rereading.

now my question: Does this make battier more tradable for lakers?

[Luxury]

Wake up, we offered a way better package, but it didn't go through. How can you blame Mitch, who put up a better package? It's getting annoying. Like what ST said, there was too many factors and it was always going to be a long shot.

[luhbron]

maybe its not about the better package from Sacramento. Maybe after all the history between the two teams, Sacramento does not want to push LA over the top so that they win a championship?