I predict that Artest will be a Rocket before draft night. The rumor will come true. Sura + Snyder + VSpan + #26 = Artest. He will be our starting PF and split time with Bonzi and TMac as backup SF. Bonzi will return (Morey sounded optimistic in SR610 interview) and we will retain the newly acquired Reed. We then pick up a banger PF/C with all or part of the MLE. Alston / James / Lucas TMac / Bonzi / Head Battier / (Bonzi/Artest/TMac) / Novak Artest / Hayes / (MLE PF/C) / Reed Yao / Deke / (MLE PF/C) I'm not sure about all of this, but I will stick my neck out on the Artest prediction. Ron Artest will be a Rocket before draft night. Book it.
If that is true, then the Rockets have as much talent as anyone in the league. They will still be predicted to finish behind the Spurs, Mavs, Suns and the Jazz but I wouldn't feel outgunned.
I rather not have Bonzi on our team. He doesn't deserve to be a Rocket after last season. I hope we trade him for someone good (which I doubt since he seems to have a good relationship with RA). But if he does stay, he's gonna have to grow up and impress me to win me back over.
i really do love this idea and the defense piece that we will be adding, but sadly i wont believe it until i see it. Artest would be the perfect addition thou esp with james here. We will have 4 player who can score on their own and then battier as a defender. James and alston sharing mins as distributer and scorer, sounds awesome.
does that trade work salary wise? if we get to keep battier through all of this, that would be amazing.
Bonzi has a player's option for this year on his contract with us. Again, Morey said he was optimistic about Bonzi returning and that he was in better shape in his SR610 interview. He could take this opportunity to play with a coach he likes and raise his stock for a good raise on what will most likely be the last contract of his career.
It's possible that he will choose to return for another year. He has an option for next season, and Jonathan Feigen said in his blog (in the comments) that he thinks it's likely Bonzi will come back.
Isn't Bonzi almost 31? I dont know, to me it seems like he'll be Sprewelled, as in holding out for a bigger contract but no one wants to sign him.
He didn't let that happen last year when he signed with us, so I think he wants to play no matter what. Mike James is 32 and still has 3 years left on his deal. I bet if he plays well next year he could get the full MLE for 4 years. That would put him at 36 at the end of the deal. That is certainly not an ideal FA scenario for a team, but a viable one.
Well I hope he stays. Are there any other teams out there interested in him and willing to give him more money than us?
I know Artest is very strong, but can he play PF for extended periods of time? Remember at the beginning of last season, Shane was supposed to be our answer at the 4? We scrapped that idea after the first game of the season...
I haven't heard anything, but he has until the 25th to decide if he wants to stay with us or not. I believe the free agent signing period starts in the first or second week of July. I don't think anyone will give him a multi-year MLE deal at this point. Stranger things have happened when teams get desperate though. His best option might be to stay with us, produce (especially on the playoff stage), and be a good citizen. For him it's probably something like "do I want to sign a deal now for $12-15M total and possibly not get another one or do I want to gamble and go for a $25M next year".
Artest is 6'7" 260lbs with a very strong base for holding position. In comparison Carlos Boozer is 6'9" 266lbs. Tim Duncan is 6'11" 260lbs. Kevin Garnett is 6'11" 253lbs. Elton Brand is 6'8" 254lbs. Dirk Nowitzki is 7'0" 245lbs. Chris Bosh is 6'10" 230lbs. Jermaine O'Neal is 6'11" 260lbs. Rasheed Wallace is 6'11" 230lbs. I think he can hold his own, especially considering his overall defensive prowess.