Artest to Houston; Kings Officially Rebuilding

With the trade of Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets for a #1 pick, Bobby Jackson, and a player to be named, reportedly Donte Greene, the Kings are officially a franchise in transition.  The Kings opening day starters, potnetially looks like this: PG – Beno Udrih, SG – Kevin Martin, SF – Donte Greene or Francisco Garcia, PF – Mikki Moore, C – Brad Miller.  Not the most imposing five in the NBA by any stretch.

But the Kings had to do something with Artest as he has spent the month of July bemoaning the fact that he decided not to opt out of his contract.  The Kings get some cap space for next year when Jackson’s contract expires and what amounts to two #1 picks in Greene, the 28th pick in June’s draft, and a #1 next summer.  I don’t think anyone truly believed the Kings were interested in dealing Artest to a division rival in the Lakers so this was probably the next best option for them.

This is a move the Rockets had to make in order to contend in the west.  They needed that third star player to contend with teams like the Spurs, Lakers, Jazz, and Hornets who all have better depth than the Rockets do.  Artest will gives them that third scorer, lockdown defense, and an extra edge out there.  Artest is definitely an offensive upgrade at the small forward position over Shane Battier and he is arguably as good of a defender.

In other news ESPN is reporting that the Bulls and Luol Deng are close to sealing the deal on a six year contract reportedly worth in the neighborhood of $70 million.  If this deal comes to fruition it likely means Ben Gordon is as good as gone and will be dealt via the sign-and-trade option.

Mavs Want Artest; Camby Insulted by Trade

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Mavericks have offered Jerry Stackhouse and Brandon Bass to the Sacramento Kings for Ron Artest.  It goes on to say that the Kings will not seriously entertain Cuban’s overtures unless Josh Howard is thrown into the mix.  I guess one cannot blame Cuban for trying but I don’t really get the interest here.  Granted Stackhouse’s better days are behind him and Bass had his best season as a pro scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game coming off the bench in Dallas last year but did he seriously believe the Kings would bite at this?  Or, does he believe the Kings are that desperate to unload the increasingly unhappy Artest?  Surely Artest has more trade value than this.  Heck, the Lakers are reportedly willing to part with Lamar Odom who is a lot more productive than either Stackhouse or Bass are at this stage with likely more productive years ahead of him than Stakchouse does.

What is a bit puzzling about the Mavs reported interest is why the interest is there anyway.  Don’t the Mavs already have Josh Howard who is essentially a slimmer version of Artest?  Is the intent to move one of them to shooting guard?  If so that would definitely be an interesting offense to witness in Dallas.  Then again with Rick Carlisle as the new coach they may be looking for more defensive minded players who can excel in a halfcourt tempo offense.

Switching gears a bit, Marcus Camby tells the Rocky Mountain News that he felt blindsided and insulted about his unceremonious departure from Denver.  Essentially Camby is miffed about how the deal all went down and felt like the team should have given him a heads up about what was going on.  He says he knows this is strictly a business move and the team really does not owe him an explanation but he felt that after six years he would have been treated a little better.  He goes on to say he feels as though maybe the organization is using him as a scapegoat for the team’s failure to advance deep into the playoffs.

I get where Camby is coming from but it is not as though he is the first guy to be treated this way in pro sports.  He just needs to get over it and move on.

The Nets reportedly offered the Nuggets a package of young players and expiring contracts in exchange for Camby but they were not interested in taking any salaries back for Camby.  It is an interesting rumor to say the least.  Why not take back a Josh Boone or Sean Williams and Marcus Williams in addition to say Stromile Swift for Camby?  At least you get some good young talent on the roster in the event Kenyon Martin and/or Nene go down to injury again.  But, obviously, the Nuggets were interested in just dumping salary and saving money instead of competing for a championship next season.  Instead they are looking at Francisco Elson, David Harrison, and Chris Anderson to fill the void left by Camby.

More NBA Rumors and News

The Knicks signed free agent guard Anthony Roberson to a two year deal stoking speculation that Stephon Marbury’s days in New York are numbered.  The signing puts the Knicks roster at 16 players, 7 of which are guards, which is one above the league limit meaning they need to trim the roster by one player.  There is some speculation that Jerome James may be the fall guy here.  The Knicks of course are denying there is any truth to the rumor that they are looking to move Marbury.

In other Knicks’ news Danilo Gallinari has a sore back and is being held out of Summer League competition as a precautionary measure.  After missing his first five shots Gallinari settled in to hit five of his last six shots and score 14 points in the second half of the Knicks first summer league game.

Donnie Walsh also denies rumors that the Knicks are interested in acquiring Ron Artest.  While I am sure Artest would love to come back home and play for his home town team the Knicks do not have a lot to offer other than proposing a potential swap for Marbury.  That notion is not as far fetched as it may seem though.  The Kings need to seriously consider moving the enigmatic Artest who has become increasingly grumpy about not opting out of his contract and they are in desperate need of an established point man in addition to a marquee name.

Beno Udrih is a solid player but I am not entirely sold on him being a quality NBA point guard.  Marbury’s career has probably peaked but his contract is up at the end of the year and they could probably force the Knicks to take Kenny Thomas back given they would need addtional salary to make such a deal work under the salary cap.  This, in turn, frees up an additonal 8.5 million in cap space for next summer which would put the Kings a good 25 to 30 million under the cap with some decent young talent to build around.

The Pacers actually offered the Heat Jamaal Tinsley in exchange for Udonis Haslem.  Fortunately for Heat fans Pat Riley is smarter than that.  There is no way the Heat are going to move their only established post player for a middle of the road point guard.  Not that Haslem is anything special himself but he provides the Heat with their only real low post option on offense.

Lakers Want Artest?

After the initial flurry of free agent activity last week there has not been much to talk about in terms of player movement that potentially makes an impact in the coming season.  Probably the juciest rumor floating around is that the Lakers have reportedly contacted the Kings about working out a deal for Ron Artest.  According to the Sacramento Bee the Lakers are offering Lamar Odom and the speculation is the Kings would want anyone interested in Artest to take back Kenny Thomas’ contract as well.

Artest is a bit of a dicey proposition for anyone, let alone the Lakers.  He has always had a short fuse and has drawn several suspensions from the league over the years because of it.  He is also one who has never been one to shy away from the spotlight or controversy and secondly he has not exactly been the picture of good health the past couple of years.  He missed 25 games due to injury last season as it is and 26 two seasons ago.

The Lakers need to shake things up a bit and bring in someone with a bit of an edge and toughness after this year’s debacle in the league finals where the Celtics made them look soft and inept on defense.  Either Odom and/or Pau Gasol need to be shuttled for someone who is willing to mix it up and grind it out and will not let himself get pushed around.  When healthy Artest can be that guy.  In addition he is a better scorer and defender than Odom is.

NBA Free Agency Update: 07/01/08

Baron Davis chooses to ditch Golden State in favor of the Los Angeles Clippers. Not really surprised to see Davis move on, he opted out for a reason.  Despite what everyone was saying it appears that Davis was truly ticked about Nelson benching him.  The Warriors were reportedly interested in negotiating an extension but the two sides were rumored to be very far apart.  Surely the Warriors were trying to bide their time until they knew what it was going to ultimately take to re-sign Monta Ellis.  I like this acquisition for the Clippers and it likely means Elton Brand stays put and all but signals the end of Corey Maggette’s days with the Clippers.  With the additon of Davis the Clippers now have a solid starting five in place and if Brand stays healthy there is no reason they cannot compete for a playoff spot next season.

As was widely expected to happen Jose Calderon has agreed to stay in Toronto. Calderon had a breakout year with the Raptors this past season averaging just over 11 points and 8 assists per game and emerging as a reliable 3-point shooter.  Calderon’s play made mercurial point guard T. J. Ford expendable.  The Raptors had to do everything in their power to lock Calderon up immediately as he was the only remaining point man on the roster.  Toronto will now likely look to pluck a servicable backup off the free agent pile to back Calderon up.  Expect them to make a run at someone like a Chris Duhon or Carlos Arroyo or they may try to lure a veteran like Damon Stoudamire or Sam Cassell into the fold.

Beno Udrih is no longer an option for the Raptors as he decides to stay with Sacramento after the Clippers made a push to sign him. The Kings could do worse than Udrih but they really had few options available and with Ron Artest opting to play out his contract in Sacramento next season they have no real cap flexibility to go out and pick someone up and the current alternatives they have under contract still need some seasoning and are not yet ready to run an offense.