July 30 -- It was tough to tell over the shrieking celebration with noisemakers and streamers, but they'll love the Ron Artest trade in Houston, too.
A deal with the framework of Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene and what figures to be a late first-round pick in 2009 for a talented forward, with minor parts likely to be added before becoming official Aug. 14, is an escape route for the Kings and a no-brainer for the Rockets in a way the NBA rarely has no-brainers.
Of course, it never has just been about Artest the basketball talent, as you may have heard. It's just that he's a decreasing risk by the day, entering the final season of his contract at a manageable $7.4 million and unable to do any real damage to the championship hopes of a team that can annually lose in the first round without his traveling fun house.
If the relationship doesn't work, the Rockets get the cap relief of letting him go as a free agent or the chance to work a sign-and-trade, just as they probably would have done with Jackson and his expiring deal at $6.49 million.
If Artest doesn't fit on the court -- and there will be issues to address because Shane Battier is in some ways the ideal complementary piece at small forward -- the Rockets will have enviable options near the February trade deadline.
They'll be very versatile until then, able to go big (point guard Tracy McGrady, shooting guard Battier, small forward Artest, power forward Luis Scola, center Yao Ming) or small (point guard Rafer Alston, shooting guard McGrady, small forward Battier, power forward Artest, center Scola).
All for the price of one player from the rotation of a 55-win team.
Jackson was barely that anyway, having played just 26 games after being acquired from New Orleans. He averaged 19.2 minutes and 8.8 points and shot 41.9 percent -- and turned 35 in March.
Greene was the 28th pick in the June draft, a wiry 6-foot-10 small forward.
And the first-round pick should be in the 20s.
No one who has lived "the Ron Show," as one general manager described his scrambled career, would dare wonder about the worst that can happen, because some wince-inducing answer will be forthcoming. But it says everything that the Rockets are set to give up three pieces they either barely or never had, with the chance another minor player will be included to satisfy salary-cap requirements, for a low-risk investment on a passionate defender who can score.
The Rockets' greatest challenge in reuniting Artest with coach Rick Adelman, obviously aware Artest helped spark the Kings to the 2006 playoffs after a midseason trade from Indiana, is sorting through the new lineup. Battier, after all, received the sixth-most votes in the league in a poll of coaches for the All-Defensive team -- and seven more votes than Artest for the first team as one of the two best forwards in that department. Battier also is a much better passer who will keep the offense centered on McGrady and Yao.
If the Kings are relieved to finally be away from the emotional obstacle course of life with Artest, they also get tangible gains if the deal goes through as expected, with one league source with knowledge of the talks noting, "It feels done to me."
