Rick Noland
The Gazette
INDEPENDENCE — In the wacky world of NBA free agency, Charlie Villanueva quickly went out of the picture, while the Cavaliers’ interest in veteran swingman Ron Artest started coming into focus.
The colorful and often volatile Artest, who earned $7.4 million last season while playing for the Houston Rockets, is an unrestricted free agent with a ton of talent and a deep history of problems.
The extremely rugged 6-foot-7, 260-pounder pretty much kept his nose clean last season and averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Rockets, but the 29-year-old has been suspended numerous times in his career.
Cavaliers small forward LeBron James, however, loves Artest’s competitiveness and desire to win and reportedly talked to the veteran about coming to Cleveland while the two were in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
“All the superstars are savvy and very good recruiters,†Artest’s agent, David Bauman, told The Associated Press. “The superstars are sometimes even better recruiters than the general managers or their staffs.
“Between (Los Angeles Lakers star) Kobe (Bryant) and Ron or LeBron and Ron, there are deep conversations that occur. I’ll just leave it at that at this point.â€
Artest’s most famous incident occurred in 2004 when he was playing for Indiana – Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown was an assistant for the Pacers at the time – and went into the stands to fight Detroit fans during a game at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Rockets, who are run by 36-year-old Highland High graduate Daryl Morey, like Artest and can go over the salary cap to re-sign him – Cleveland can’t exceed the mid-level exception of approximately $5.6 million – but a once-promising Houston team is suddenly in a state of flux.
Franchise center Yao Ming is expected to miss at least all of next season with what could be a career-threatening foot injury, while high-priced veteran shooting guard Tracy McGrady has been unable to stay healthy.
The physically imposing Artest, who can play shooting guard, small forward and even some power forward, has said he wants to stay in Houston, but he’s also on record as saying he wants to play for a championship contender, which the Rockets may no longer be.
“Obviously, we’d love to do a deal with the Rockets,†Bauman told the AP. “At this point, I think it’s premature. We really have to figure out what all the options are and what’s the best place for Ron, both financially and from a playing perspective.â€
Given the uncertainty surrounding the Rockets, there’s a slight chance they might be willing to let Artest walk. However, there’s probably a better chance of a sign-and-trade deal that could involve Cleveland’s own unrestricted free agent, Anderson Varejao, whom Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry has said he wants to keep.
Morey, who did not return phone calls, met with Orlando restricted free agent center Marcin Gortat hours after the free agent period began Wednesday morning. It is unclear what impact signing Gortat might have on a potential Artest-Varejao sign-and-trade.
Artest, one of the strongest and most physical wing players in the league, is a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year who would give the Cavaliers the size they lack in the backcourt. He’s also a very good offensive player, though he sometimes tries to do too much.
Ideally, the Cavaliers would like to re-sign Varejao at their price and add Artest. Cleveland, however, doesn’t want to pay an outlandish sum to keep Varejao, so a sign-and-trade for the more-talented and well-rounded Artest, who also probably wants significantly more than the mid-level exception, might be the only way this deal works out.
If Varejao leaves town, the Cavaliers would be dangerously thin along the front line, where only centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaquille O’Neal and unproven power forwards J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson are under contract for next season.
The Cavaliers, who gave O’Neal a tour of their Cleveland Clinic Courts practice facility on Wednesday and will hold a press conference this afternoon to introduce their new center to the local media, initially had a lot of interest in power forward Villanueva, but the 24-year-old agreed to terms on a five-year deal with Detroit that will pay him at least $35 millon.
In a roundabout way, Carlos Boozer, with whom the Cavaliers thought they had a contract understanding after his second NBA season, only to lose him to Utah through free agency, came back to bite his former team once again.
Boozer elected not to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Jazz. Had he become a free agent, the Pistons likely would have pursued him instead of Villanueva, which would have increased Cleveland’s chances of landing the former Milwaukee Buck.
If the Cavaliers don’t land Artest, they could turn their attention to wing players like Anthony Parker, Matt Barnes, Jamario Moon and Desmond Mason.
Big men Cleveland still might pursue include Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Channing Frye and Steve Novak.
