COMMENTARY
Bold trade shows Rockets want to win now
By STEVE CAMPBELL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
THIS could be the finest hour Daryl Morey ever has as a general manager. This could also be a deal that lives in Rockets infamy.
This could be a bold masterstroke that propels the Rockets to greatness, makes them a team Houston truly clutches to its bosom again. This could also be the best-laid plan that causes Morey and coach Rick Adelman to wake up screaming in the middle of the night for the rest of their natural lives.
Most truths in life lie somewhere in the middle of two extremes. When it comes to Ron Artest, life is one extreme or another. Artest is beauty and the beast in one 6-7, 248-pound package of contradictions and mood swings. The Latin translation of his name is caveat emptor .
Artest will become a Rocket as soon as the team can wrap up some legalities and logistics with the Sacramento Kings. The Rockets have agreed to send veteran point guard Bobby Jackson, next year No. 1 draft pick and another player — most likely this yearÂ’s No. 1 pick, Donté Greene — in return for a former All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year.
High risk, high reward
Neither Morey nor Adelman has any way of knowing how well the newest Rocket will fit in with a cohesive team built around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. What we do know is that regardless of how it turns out, itÂ’s a risk well worth taking.
Just like that, the Rockets belong on the short list of teams with legitimate NBA title hopes this upcoming season. Just like that, the Rockets have three players who have proved their ability to average 20 points per game and/or carry a team on a given night. Just like that, the Rockets became one of the league’s most flexible teams – better on offense and defense .
And they did it without sacrificing anybody who was a significant part of their 2008-09 plans.
If Artest is on his best behavior, getting out of the first round of the playoffs will be the least of the RocketsÂ’ ambitions. As ifs go, of course, this is as big as the gulf between prom queen and drag queen. Artest should be on his best behavior, given that heÂ’s in the last year of his contract and hoping to convince some team to give him a golden-parachute deal.
The beauty of having Artest on a team is that he can score and be as good of an in-your-face, lockdown defender as there is in the league. The beast of having Artest is that for a team with serious title aspirations, he can be a handshake buzzer, whoopee cushion and exploding cigar all rolled up in one.
Too many times for teams to truly count on Artest for long, the lights have been off with nobody home. His foray into the stands during a 2004 brawl earned him a 73-game suspension. His dossier also includes a suspension for requesting a month off to promote an album on his production label.
And he isnÂ’t always a stickler for running the same offense as the other four guys wearing the same-colored jersey.
In Rockets vernacular, itÂ’s on Adelman to see to it that this works. Adelman, after all, coached Artest at Sacramento for the second half of the 2005-06 season. Artest took such a liking to his coach, he offered to donate his salary to what he considered the worthy cause of bringing back Adelman the next season. The Rockets wouldnÂ’t have made such a dramatic move without the blessing of Adelman, who suddenly has an embarrassment of options.
Will Artest replace Shane Battier, who is the glue to the RocketsÂ’ defense, as the starting small forward, or come off the bench? Artest would seem to be better-equipped, if heÂ’d accept the role, to change the course of a game coming off the bench. HeÂ’d be the immediate favorite to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award, and think of the aggravation he could cause the other team.
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