McGrady - PG - 6'8" ---------------- 6'2" Parker
Artest - SG - 6'7" ---------------- 6'6" Ginobili
Battier - SF - 6'8" --versus-- 6'7" Bowen
Scola - PF - 6'9" ----------------- 6'9" Thomas
Ming - C - 7'6" ----------------- 6'11" Duncan
Serious height disparity!!
Rockets defense which was already great, just got even better. And on top of that, they finally got that 3rd scoring option they needed. This was a perfect trade for the Rockets.
All those people stating they'll wait and see if Houston can stay healthy all season long...well u saw what NO did last year when they were all finally able to get healthy.
Gotta walk the walk now.
BOS did with their trade, LAL did with their trade, we'll see if HOU can.
Yao has Bill Walton feet, so there is always going to be fragility issues with him...
I like this move for the Rockets, there's no downside really. Jackson was not in their future plans, Green was a ways off from contributing to a veteran team that wants to win now. The #1 pick won't be that valuable if Houston is in the playoffs, and if Artest can't blend in with the team, he's off their books next summer.
That's the biggest thing for the Rockets. There is absolutely no downside to this trade from their end. If Artest doesn't work out he's off the books next off-season.
This was a good trade for Houston, giving up very little for a talented nut job. I forgot all the domestic violence issues that Artest has had even in the last few years. I am working in Houston this week and the local sports station am 790 went through his history i.n some detail.
Ron-Ron likes to slap around his wife/girlfriend, so he is a certified s bag.
This does not prevent him from being a good player in Houston, and the Rockets can be very good IF HEALTHY. That is a big if.
I wonder what Brent and Erin Barry think about having someone like Artest as a Rocket teammate, given their terrific efforts to curb domestic violence.
lolz if you think McGrady will be playing point.
Name 1 team in the league that dosnt worry about the Health factor. Didnt brand just miss half a season also arenas. Rockets are no different than any team. Could spurs win 55 games if tim duncan missed 33 games and tony parker missed 14? would they be 2 games shy of being the best in the west with their best player missing? Well we know Rockets can. Knock us for not getting out of the 1st round, but u cant question Rockets heart. Coming back from the allstar break 10th seed, we won like 7 in a row and didnt even move up in the standings. The rockets showed will and determination. They coulda easily tanked the season.
lolz sadly we had watched way too many cases when that happened. sadly...
I expect fans to disect and find every little skeleton artest has to diminish this trade. Whenever you can improve a roster that won 55 games without even moving any major pieces you can only get better.
I don't understand fans who dismiss the Rockets because of the past injury record. The Spurs also have had a couple of players who had to play at less than their best because of injuries, (Tim Duncan a couple of years ago and Manu Horry and Barry were not up to par last year.)
You can't factor in health problems with precision, but talent is always a factor when evaluating teams. Houston has made a bold move that may pay off.
id be more scared if he landed with someone like the Lakers or Hornets. a team that is ONE player away from getting over the hump. not the Rockets. they havent proven anything but mediocrity. yea sure maybe injuries are the main reason but they have been healthy but have still failed to get past the first round. there is obviously a deeper problem with this Yao/McGrady that Artest will not solve. thats why im not scared. sure they will probably have the top 3 seed, but the playoffs is what matters and none of them have proven they can win.
From the edge, Artest gives Rockets a missing element
By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: July 30, 2008
Comment
Ron Artest to the Rockets? All I can do is imagine Houston general manager Daryl Morey listening to Seal on his iPod: "But we're never gonna survive unless ... We get a little crazy."
Yep, the Rockets just got nuts. And that's a good thing. Nice guys don't get past the first round of the playoffs.
Rocky Widner/Getty Images
No doubt, Ron Artest brings a line-crossing resume to the Rockets.
Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Shane Battier are all good players and fine people. But not one of them strikes fear in an opponent. Thanks to a trade with Sacramento, the Rockets have added Artest, someone who goes back and forth across that mythical line like he's playing hopscotch. You really, really don't want to mess with the Rockets now. That goes for opposing fans, as well.
Go ahead and group the Rockets with the Hornets and Spurs -- not just because they're in the same division, but because they can legitimately challenge the Lakers for their Western Conference crown.
As one Western Conference scout said when asked about the trade, "Wow. They just moved up, for sure. They were missing that element, that danger, that toughness, that [expletive]. And now they have it."
Yes, Artest is a risk. When the Indiana Pacers were ascending in the East, Artest single-handedly caused the avalanche that wiped them off the mountain. There's the history of his problems off the court and in the stands. And you never know where basketball ranks on his priority list at any given moment.
But the Rockets had to do something like this. How many consecutive first-round losses could they stand? (Um, six, apparently.)
It's as safe a play as any team could make with Artest involved. He already has a built-in comfort zone in coach Rick Adelman, whom he thought so highly of when they were in Sacramento together that he volunteered to give up his salary if it would keep Adelman around.
And all it cost them was reserve Bobby Jackson, first-round pick Donte Greene and next year's first-round pick.
At first glance it seems as if the Kings gave up on Artest too easily, that his value was sliding like the real-estate market and they were so afraid they wouldn't get anything back before he left as a free agent that they dumped him to the first reasonable bid. Also, they didn't succeed in dumping the two years and $16.5 million remaining on Kenny Thomas' contract. But after hearing it explained to me by a source familiar with Sacramento's thinking, it makes sense.
They weren't going to win a championship with Artest. They weren't going to win a championship with whatever key player they got for Artest. By going for draft picks and the expiring contract of Jackson, they're sticking with their long-term strategy of good young players until they can be major players in the 2010 free-agent market. That summer they can have Beno Udrih, Kevin Martin, Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, Quincy Douby, Greene and three more draft picks under contract, plus some $25 million-plus in salary-cap room.
The only question is whether the Sacramento fans, who no longer dole out unconditional love for the team and don't fill the stands every night anymore, will be patient enough to wait two years. But if Knicks fans can hold on to their season tickets and keep showing up amid all of the other options in New York, then Sacramento ought to be able to hold on to its fan base until help arrives.
Back to the real focus of this trade: the Rockets and what it means for them right now. There was some speculation in NBA circles that McGrady would get traded this summer. Instead, the Rockets went the other way. They're building around McGrady, even if the addition might seem to be an odd fit, like the new bowl dropped between the old columns of Chicago's Soldier Field.
This doesn't come to mind first when you think of Artest, but he's most valuable to the Rockets for his offense. The Rockets were fine defensively. They had the fourth-best scoring defense in the league, with Battier around to provide Artest-level perimeter defense without all of the suspensions.
Artest adds another 20-point scorer to take the load off McGrady's chronically injured back and help an offense that ranked 22nd in the NBA in 2007-08.
Much more than that, he gives the Rockets an edge, in addition to making them one of the most fascinating teams in the league. As long as they stick cameras in the locker rooms to hear the coaches' halftime speeches for national TV games, they might as well leave them up to capture Artest, Yao and T-Mac. They don't even need microphones; I just want to watch them interact. Does either Yao or T-Mac have the temperament to establish himself as the alpha male and keep the team from veering off in whatever direction Artest tugs?
It might seem as if the Rockets got antsy and made a desperate, short-term move -- remember, Artest can leave them next season -- and got too worried about the window closing, even though their two superstars are both under 30. The truth is, they were running out of time, spinning their wheels and going nowhere. There's no guarantee Yao will be the long-term solution; he hasn't played in more than 57 games in any of the past three seasons, and a summer of playing for China's national team won't make him any fresher for next season. And McGrady never has played in 80 games in a season.
Thanks to Artest, it's possible to imagine a new numerical benchmark for both T-Mac and Yao: at least eight games in the playoffs.
J.A. Adande joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with the Los Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...stdeal2-080730
Wow 6 consecutive 1st round losses? How did this go unnoticed? that is goddamn embarrassing.
Houston Front Office...
Brilliant
Artest was unmistakably giddy in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a phone conversation with ESPN.com as he discussed his forthcoming trade to the Houston Rockets.
"I'll be a kid in a candy store," Artest said. "I'll be a kid in a store with a lot of candy. I'm going to dance with the stars."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3510261
It just might be crazy enough to work
If only Jackson could've Devean Georged the deal.
No way Mcgrady can gaurd tony Parker!!! LOL and who would gaurd duncan with that lineup?! (ceparker) Yao?! LMAO ...If i were spurs i would run the Rockets with yao in the lineup ...Parker is better than alston Houston's strength is halfcourt D they are a better matchup for Lakers and Suns (on paper) because Yao has a true center to gaurd ...
Before lakers landed gasol were not they also a 1st round exit playoff team losing twice to phx and a year prior to that not even making the playoffs. Lets talk about those hornets, the same hornets who had a gang of injuries and not even sniffing the post season last year. Its all good atleast my beloved rox see theres a problem we try to address it instead of being in denial. Before Kg Paul and ray allen teamed up in boston how successful had they been in the playoffs? Kg had only advanced 1nce in his career and eliminated in the 1st round every after that until twolves wasnt even a playoff team.
well anyways welcome Rockets 2 contending mode with us but only if u guys manage 2 stay healthy u might make some noise this seasen
Boston celtics only won 25 total games prior to landing the big 3, what was their playoff record before winning the championship? where is the notion u have to advance deep into the post season before winning the crown. Didnt those I45 boys get all the way to the finals only to win 60 games the following year and get bounced in the 1st round by gsw and again to n.o in only 5 games.
Houston's help defense would be able to keep Parker out of the paint and Yao doesn't have a problem guarding Duncan down low, his length alone gives Duncan trouble. (if Duncan wants to try to pull Yao away from the basket we can rotate Artest to him and Chuck Hayes has also done a decent job on Duncan as well. On defense (especially with the addition of Artest) alot of our defenders are interchangable...with players that have size and are versatile defenders...it's the secrect to our steller team defense, we can rotate anywhere.
Who on your team is going to guard Artest, McGrady usually goes off on Bowen (his length allows him to shoot right over the top), and Yao can get his vs Duncan 1 on 1.....he always has, if your team wants to slide the double team over, Yao will just kick it to Scola or out to one of our 3 point shooters.
You act like we only have to match up to your team on defense, but you also have to match up to ours and I don't think you have the horses to do it anymore....Artest is a major matchup problem that I don't see a answer for.
That ing sucks!! We could of offered something in that sort. I mean Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene and a first round draft pick in 2009. That is not much?
Then what do you call it when the team's best player (Yao) has not played in more than 57 games? Then their 2nd best player (McGrady) has missed portions of the past 2 seasons with recurring back trouble. Of course, every team has the potential risk of injury. Yet in the Rockets case, their recent history has shown that risk to be considerably higher than most playoff contenders.
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