Gone from Houston (per Twitter). rumored to cleavland, I'd LOVE him in Portland....he's a huge fan of Brandon Roy i guess.......but whatever.
Good move for Cleveland I suppose, but we'll see how he adjusts to James dominating the ball. His defense will make up for it, though.
Cleveland could really use his defense, Orlando exposed them for only having Lebron as a capable wing defender, especially with the undersized Williams/West backcourt. If Artest does go I'd put the Cavs ahead of LA as the clear title favorites.
With James and Artest (assuming one of them slots in at shooting guard, I guess), Cleveland will have the most powerful duo of wing defenders ever. Almost two-thirds of a solid linebacking corps.
With talk of moving James to PF, they have an extremely bulky frontcourt. Try running through screens with that frontcourt! SF: Artest PF: James C: Shaq
Shit. Cleveland is looking better and better. Maybe they'll win one game against us in the Finals. Maybe.
It's kind of funny to me that Shaq and Artest would make CLE the clear favorites, but no one in here wants them for our team.
I don't think Shaq fits Portland or Cleveland all that well. Artest is a valuable player and I'd like him on Portland. He's not my top choice, but he'd be a useful player.
Bizarre, actually. Were Portland to get both players, they would be contenders. Maybe not as high up the list as Cleveland, since Portland is lacking a LeBron, but definitely a real challenger to the Lakers and Spurs.
I'd take Arterst, but I'm not sure he'd respect Roy to the level he'll respect James. Shaq? Was he PHX's missing piece?
If I recall correctly, after the playoff series against us Artest said Roy was the toughest person to guard he's ever faced (or something like that). Also that he was the only player to score 40+ points in a game against him. I think he has a pretty high level of respect for Roy, but as you said, who knows if it would/will match the level he would give LeBron.
the rockets apparently were only willing to offer him a one year deal(which i think was the right move), so he won't be staying in houston.
cleveland's team is looking worse and worse with the more big names they talk about adding. is there any chance that artest and shaq could go an entire season without something blowing up between them? i mean shaq isn't going to put up with crazy fadeaway 3s when he's got position inside without taking some shots at artest in the media, right? the shaq trade was bad enough with cleveland happy to just add a big name regardless of how he fits but if they get artest too, i'm guaranteeing that lebron leaves town as soon as possible.
