sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?col...=VegasChatter-080717

It says that Stack, Bass and cash isn't enough for Artest. But if they can do something along those lines, I would go for it. Artest is a top flight defender and can score the basketball. Stackhouse really started to trail off and I don't think he can be counted on to be the scorer that the Mavs need him to be. Losing Bass hurts a lot since he is our only scoring threat in the post, but I'll give up 2 reserves for a top 25 NBA player(when his head is screwed on semi-straight) any day. You can't expect Artest to not go crazy at some point, but I think he can keep his act together for a year or two, which is the window this current Mavs team has unless they start making some major moves... such as my dream to start dumping salary to sign LeBron.

What about Howard for Artest - would you be interested in that?

No, I don't think that trade would make as much difference. Howard isn't the defensive player that Artest is, but he isn't too far behind. Both can score pretty well. Just not that big a difference between the 2 to justify the trade.

Artest to Houston - sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3510261

This isn't good. If McGrady and Yao can stay healthy next season or are at least healthy in the playoffs, the Rockets will be very good.