Ron Artest Traded to the Rockets

Over the past few years, Ron Artest has always proved himself to be a sold fantasy player. Since 2003, he has averaged about 20 points per game, 2.2 steals per game, and about 5 rebounds per game. His stats have proved to be highly predictable, with minimal fluctuation in his stats. However, his trade to the Houston Rockets is not only a big move for the team, but also to Ron Artest himself.

When Ron Artest was Indiana, he never had a great image, to say the least. Back then, when somebody said Ron Artest, people thought of a good-but-not-great basketball player who rapped and knocked people out at Detroit games. There was rarely a day when Ron Artest wasn't in the news for doing something bad. Then, with his trade to the Kings, he seemed to mature. His images became less and less tainted as he focused on his basketball career. As the media attention on Artest went down, his production went up.
Now, he is the teammate of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Not only are the Rockets serious western conference contenders now, but also everyone should expect Artests numbers to go down. Now that he is on a good team, I feel that it will encourage him to play like he's never played before. With the focus of the defence shifted away from him, he will have more open looks at the basketball and open lanes with which he can cut. Expect a break-out year from Ron Artest.

Mannnn and there I was hoping he'd go to the Lakers....