Official: Artest traded to Rockets Houston, TX (Sports Network) - After much speculation, the Houston
Rockets officially landed controversial forward Ron Artest from the Sacramento
Kings on Thursday.
Reports have been circulating since July 29, but because of contract
considerations, the teams were delayed in making the deal which also brings
forward Patrick Ewing Jr. and guard Sean Singletary to the Rockets. The Kings
receive guard Bobby Jackson, rookie forward Donte Greene and Houston's 2009
first-round draft pick in the deal.
Greene was the holdup in the trade because he was not p... More...
The Kings have until October 31 to offer a contract extension to Francisco Garcia, but it doesn't sound like that will happen, according to the Sacramento Bee. Garcia can become a restricted free agent after the 2008-09 season.
The Ron Artest deal could be undone by the NBA's resident bad boy. In response to Yao Ming's concerns about Artest's past, Ron-Ron retaliated according to the Sacramento Bee. "I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," said Artest, who will earn $7.4 million next season and be a free agent next summer. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about. If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed." The deal cannot be completed until August 14 because of the nature of Donte Greene's contract (another player in the deal).
