Six Reasons the Ron Artest Trade Isn't As Great As It Appears

Jeremy Meeks — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:55:13 -0400

Congrats to everyone for getting on this story so quickly. The Houston Chronicle reported this around 7:15PM Tuesday and there have already been a few articles written about it. Here are six reasons not to get caught up in the hype:

The Hornets are still the class of the division, as they proved last year. Paul is still very young, and the other teams in the Southwest are old—and getting older.
The Lakers will still be favorites for the Western Conference championship. They will get Bynum back, which should make them better than this year with just Kobe and Pau.
Battier has become redundant. Houston now has two of the best three or four on-ball defenders in the NBA. Both match up well with shooting guards and small forwards, but neither can match up with point guards or larger forwards. Not many teams have scoring threats at both the two guard and the small forward. Battier has been underrated as a defender, but Artest is a definite upgrade on the offensive end.
Ron Artest carries a lot of baggage. Probably the most baggage of any player in the NBA. He's been known to put other priorities in front of playing. He also hasn't been overly vocal about his desire for a championship. Artest is one of the more competitive players in the league—but if the Rockets start slow again, will he be able to keep the fire?
Donte Green looks to be an exciting prospect. Green seems to be oversized for the position he is most suited (SF), but put up some crazy numbers in his first summer league game.
The Rockets also had to give up their 2009 first-round pick. This isn't a big deal if the Rockets win a championship this year. Even if they get out of the first round, it's probably worth it. Yet, at some point, the Rockets will have to give up on McGrady's back and Yao's feet. Hopefully this won't put them farther back when they do.

The Rockets took a chance on the present with the Ron Artest trade. This appears to make them more competitive in the short term, which is probably the right horizon when considering McGrady and Yao's injury problems. This move should help the Rockets win a first round series, but it might be a little early to print the Rockets' "2009 NBA Champion" shirts.

College Athletes Don't Need to Be Paid: A Response to Boyce Watkins' Article

Jeremy Meeks — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:59:44 -0400

Playing collegiate sports is mutually beneficial for both the players and the NCAA. The NCAA gets the better end of it, but it's still a good deal for players of all skill levels.

O.J. Mayo was the example used in Boyce Watkins' article, which contends that the NCAA should compensate its players on top of any scholarships. O.J. Mayo went to one year of school at USC. He was not able to go directly to the NBA. That wasn't the NCAA or USC's fault, that is the NBA rule.

Formerly, high-school players with top-level talent could go directly to the NBA, but that's no longer an option. However, no one forced O.J. Mayo to attend a university. If he didn't feel right about USC and Tim Floyd banking off his star talent, he could have chosen to wait out the required year by practicing his crossover and jump shot in a gym. But why would he want to do that? There are more than three dozen professional basketball leagues worldwide.

He could get paid to play! Right out of high school! Sounds like we've got a viable alternative.

That sucks, though, that he might have to go overseas to get his "fair market value." There isn't as much exposure over there. Nike wouldn't know whether to give him a contract. He wouldn't be playing against the best that he could be.

Maybe he looks great, maybe he stinks it up. How would the NBA have graded him against different competition? Would he still go No. 3 in the draft after playing overseas for a year? Would anyone even know who O.J. Mayo was?

Therein lies the rub: Mayo's payment at USC was the exposure afforded by major college basketball, ESPN, Los Angeles, the NCAA tournament, etc. Mayo's future earnings will likely be higher because he attended USC. Isn't that why most people go to college?

Mayo and other lottery-type talent are one case. The "guys who are superstars in college but don't have the body type or athleticism to compete in the NBA" could play overseas after college. Paul Shirley carved out a decent career playing basketball professionally, and no one would confuse him with a superstar.

The other 95 percent of college basketball players? Make sure to get your free diploma!

With all due respect to Watkins, there is a difference between playing collegiate basketball and working in a sweatshop. These kids aren't forced labor. If they need to help support their family, they can take a day job at McDonald's or a hardware store. Nowhere is it written that one who has sports talent must be compensated for it.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Jeremy Meeks

Six Reasons the Ron Artest Trade Isn't As Great As It Appears

College Athletes Don't Need to Be Paid: A Response to Boyce Watkins' Article