Geoff Petrie and the Sacramento Kings have finally pulled the trigger on the most inevitable move of 2008. They traded Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson and first round pick in next year’s draft. I along with most other Kings’ fans was ecstatic to hear the news.
Artest is one of those players that you love to hate especially when he happens to play for your team and especially during this particular off-season. For those of you that didn’t follow his antics, he started the off-season by changing his mind from one day to the next as to whether he would opt out of his contract or not. At the deadline he surprisingly ended up doing something sensible by choosing to stay with the Kings and play out the remainder of his contract. It was sensible because at the time that he made his decision there were very few teams with any cap flexibility to pay him what he thinks he deserves. Keep in mind Artest hasn’t hesitated to compare himself with the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. He is obviously delusional in that regard, but he also made his decision thinking he would be in for a huge payday next year instead of accepting the mid-level exception this year. This decision was made before Baron Davis and Elton Brand opted out of their respective contracts. Artest wasted no time to inform ESPN that he regretted his decision not to opt out. This only alienated the entire Kings’ fan base along with a few teammates. Throughout the weeks that followed Artest has repeatedly demanded that he be traded to “a team out there that can be more committed than Sacramento to me.”
As a side note, I can’t be the only one that sees the irony in this attitude that Ron Artest holds. Artest continually compares himself with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, but he constantly points to not having good teammates around him. Kobe and especially LeBron have done much better with a far worse supporting cast. I would think that Artest would constantly be leading his teams to the playoffs if he truly is the transcendent talent that he believes he is. A great player makes the talent around him better, and Artest never did that for the Kings. He had one of the most efficient shooting guards in the league in Kevin Martin. He had an above-average center in Brad Miller. He had a point guard that averaged 19 points per game over the previous for seasons in Mike Bibby. Yet Artest didn’t succeed in this environment when players like LeBron and Kobe would flourish, but I digress.
He now moves to Houston to play with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Artest also will be reunited with former coach Rick Adelman. Artest played for Adelman after being traded to the Kings in 2006. It was no secret how much Artest enjoyed playing for Adelman for that half season, and he has wasted no time to once again praise the Rockets' head coach since this trade was announced. This seems to reiterate the rift that had developed between him and Kings’ coach Reggie Theus.
This will be a boon for the Rockets to acquire such a talented player. Their starting line will now be Rafer Alston, McGrady, Artest, Luis Scola, and Yao. It moves Battier to the sixth man which suits his game and gives the Rockets one of the best top six in the league. The fact that Artest is a free agent at the end of this season only helps the Rockets’ chances as they make their push to win this year. He should be on his best behavior knowing that he can cash in at the end of the year. He also finally believes that he is playing along teammates that are his contemporaries in McGrady and Yao, and this should curtail quite a bit of his desire to take over games and dominate the ball.
The Rockets immediately should become the favorite to win the West. They bring in another outstanding defender to anchor their already fantastic defense. They allowed just 92 points per game last season, and their defensive rating (Points allowed per 100 possessions) was 101.6, second in the league only to the Boston Celtics. Artest surprisingly would help them more on offense than on defense. He is an above average post player that would compliment Yao’s post play. He averaged 20.5 points per game last season. He got to the line 5.2 times per game which is right behind Tracy McGrady’s 5.4 per game, and he had a higher free throw percentage than McGrady. He also averaged 3.5 assists and nearly 6 rebounds per game which are huge improvements over Shane Battier’s numbers last season. Artest is an above average 3-point shooter, and he’ll benefit from more open looks as a result of teams doubling Yao and McGrady. He also gives them a physical toughness that they severely lacked last season.
The Kings were going to lose Artest no matter what, so this deal made perfect sense for them. They acquire an enticing young player in rookie forward Donte Greene. They get a first round pick in next year’s draft. And they bring back long-time fan favorite Bobby Jackson.
It is a little bit of pandering to Kings’ fans to bring back Bobby Jackson. The hope may be to get some of the casual fans from years past to buy back in to the Kings franchise. I was never the biggest Jackson fan. He was an undersized 2 guard that was force to play back-up point because of his size, but Kings’ fans loved him for the energy that he brought to the table. The more hardcore fans know that bringing Jackson back is purely for salary cap flexibility and a back-up plan for the point guard position. His contract is up at the end of the season, and the Kings will be able to use that cap space to sign a free agent next off-season. They may also use Jackson in a trade around this year’s trade deadline to acquire more young talent. Sean Singletary should be the plan for the future at point guard, and Jackson getting minutes ahead of him will serve only to placate the fans.
The real reason the Kings pulled the trigger on this deal is Donte Greene. Greene was a standout at Syracuse this year averaging 17.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He was thought to have the talent of a lottery pick in this year’s draft, but he dropped on the draft board because he was still a little raw. Many believed that he would have been a top 10 pick in next year’s draft had he stayed in school another year. The Kings were one of the teams that were very high on Greene on draft night. They worked him out twice during the pre-draft workouts. Ultimately Jason Thompson’s more NBA ready body and polished game won over the Kings, but there is no denying Greene’s athleticism and skills especially after his superb showing at the Las Vegas Summer League. He along with Thompson and Spencer Hawes should prove to be a very good and cost effective front line for the next few years.
This also signals the Kings willingness to admit that they are in fact in a rebuilding mode. They are now looking at the future of the franchise instead of trying to get to the playoffs right now. This was a lottery team for this upcoming season with Artest, so why not develop your young talent and look to next year? Subtracting talent right now may turn into even better talent in the future.
The Kings’ best case scenario may not be something we see immediately. The Rockets have a much better situation on paper than the Kings right now, but their worst case scenario could be catastrophic. No one actually knows what Artest might do in this new environment. He is the definition of a selfish, enigmatic player that is out of touch with his surroundings. He may pull a Terrell Owens and be on his best behavior for the first time ever. He may also decide he has to prove himself as the best player in the league now that he has better teammates around him. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady also have a history of injury problems, so I can only imagine what will happen if they both get hurt and Artest starts to openly question their toughness. The Rockets essentially traded away the only proven back-up point on their roster. They also still need to look for a back-up center. Even taking that into account, the rewards for the Rockets still outweigh any potential risks, so Rockets’ fans have to be happy with the move.
As for this Kings’ fan and many others, there is no doubt that Petrie is in control again. He has taken control of the rebuilding process that the Maloofs were so against. He helped out his good buddy Rick Adelman (something the Maloofs wouldn’t dream of). It’s as if Petrie broke out a giant Tylenol for all Kings’ fans and got rid of the headache of Ron Artest while simultaneously showing who is really pulling the strings.
Photos Courtesy of nypost.com and flickr.com, respectively