Rockets pick up Ron Artest Options

[impala454]

pretty interesting, even before this I figured a healthy Rockets team could do well in the playoffs next year. I think a healthy Rockets team + Artest (provided he doesn't act like a douchebag) could be a contender. We'll see how he fits in.

[impala454]

Looks like that sentiment is gone and they're good to go:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ts/5918737.html

Ron Artest wanted to be judged by actions, not by anything he had said or was about to say. So when asked how he felt about the trade completed just days ago that will send him to the Rockets, he immediately pointed to something he had already done.

“I got my house already,” he said. “About to get settled in and start working out.”

Any wariness that he had Wednesday about Yao Ming’s comments was gone, ended by a conversation with Yao that Artest said “was great.”

Yao had generally praised Artest and the trade but had said he was concerned about “chemistry” and made a joking reference to the incident when Artest went into the stands after a fan, inspiring Artest to say he would be happy to come to Houston only if Yao and the Rockets demonstrated their commitment to the move.

That all changed Thursday.

“Yao reached out,” Artest said. “He said some real nice things. I really appreciate it. It was nice of him.”

With that, Artest’s mood had returned to the excitement his representative, Mark Stevens, had described in the hours after the deal.

“He’s outrageous,” Stevens said. “He’s happy, he’s jumping, he’s fantastic right now.