Ariza verbally commits to sign with the Houston Rockets

[dada]

ARIZA VERBALLY COMMITS TO HOUSTON



The Houston Rockets have answered the defection of Ron Artest to the Los Angeles Lakers by quickly reaching an agreement to sign Trevor Ariza away from L.A.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that Ariza made a verbal commitment Tuesday night to sign a five-year deal with the Rockets on Wednesday -- the first day free agents are permitted to sign new contracts -- not long after the Lakers and Artest reached terms on a three-year deal worth an estimated $18 million.

ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan reports that Ariza, according to sources, will receive the Rockets' full mid-level exception, which is being projected to come in at $5.8 million for next season. If the exception for the 2009-10 season is indeed set at $5.8 million Wednesday when the league announces next season's salary cap and luxury tax, Ariza's deal would be worth $33.5 million.

The Rockets shifted their focus away from Orlando Magic restricted free agent Marcin Gortat on Thursday when it became clear that Gortat was on the verge of reaching terms with the Dallas Mavericks and when it became known leaguewide that Ariza was determined to leave his hometown Lakers -- in spite of his vital contributions to L.A.'s championship run -- because they were unwilling to start his new contract higher than the mid-level exception.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey immediately flew to Las Vegas to recruit Ariza face-to-face and convinced him to join the Rockets over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had strong interest in both Ariza and Artest and must now keep searching for a small forward on the open market such as Linas Kleiza or Anthony Parker.

The Lakers effectively declared that they preferred to have Artest -- older, physical, more versatile but also famously unpredictable -- at a lower price than the 6-foot-8 Ariza, who reached new levels of reliability as a defender, shooter and glue guy in the postseason. Ariza shot 49.7 percent from the field and 47.6 percent on 3-pointers in the postseason in 31.4 minutes per game, after averaging just 24.4 minutes per game during the regular season.

Kinda surprised he signed for the same money he would have made rejoining the Lakers.

[Lamrock]

Nooooooo! Now Portland will waste their cap on Turkoglu.

[Modifly]

But..but.. we want Artest, not Ariza.

Something is better than nothing I guess, hopefully he'll continue to develop and be a better play than he was last season.

[Lamrock]

Ariza can only thrive on a really good team, since his only offensive tool is his 3pt shot. He won't be getting these opportunities on a 35 win team. Portland would have been perfect.

[Modifly]

Ariza can only thrive on a really good team, since his only offensive tool is his 3pt shot. He won't be getting these opportunities on a 35 win team.

So Houston is a 35 win team? Ariza wont be getting any opportunities to launch his 3pt shot? We'll see.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Ariza wouldn't be worth that money if he wasn't young.

I'm not really saying anything there though.

...but all in all, this is a downgrade from Artest, and a waste of money considering the fact that they need a center, desperately.

I guess they have to trade for one now, unless they want to settle for Zaza or some other crappy free agent.

[Modifly]

The Rockets paid too much for Ariza, unless he really improve next season this is going to be a waste of money.

If we look at it from the other side, Ariza is young and can still improve, Artest has reached his saturation point and will only play worse.

[puttincomputers]

artest and lakers? i smell bad chemistry.
Ariza and rockets? good chemistry with that fast pg!
ariza and portland probably never got off the ground after that hard foul last year, he is hated in portland/
why would ariza stay in la if he would be playin behind artest? hes better than that

[Modifly]

Ariza and rockets? good chemistry with that fast pg!

Ooooh, I never thought about this. Ariza and Brooks will fit in together so well. Ariza + Brooks = Fast paced game = $$$$

[bee-boy]

Rockets definitely can´t expect Ariza to do what he did in the Playoffs for LA again for them in a full season. With Artest gone, Yao may be out the whole season, and a shaky T-Mac doesn't look good for Houston.

[Andrew]

Definitely a nice pickup for the Rockets, but not exactly an even trade-off for Artest and Ariza's job with the Lakers was made much easier thanks to the presence of Kobe and Gasol, a luxury he won't have in Houston.

[Modifly]

Ariza's job with the Lakers was made much easier thanks to the presence of Kobe and Gasol, a luxury he won't have in Houston.

But he will have Aaron Brooks and T-Mac when he's back.

[Andrew]

True...but not quite the same.

[Modifly]

Aaron Brooks will be a star.. so that makes up for the hole caused by Yao.

[WickedNite]

why didn't ariza rejoined with the lakers? it's almost the same offer.

[BigGameJames]

But he will have Aaron Brooks and T-Mac when he's back.

T-Mac ain't coming back my friend either he'll be traded or he'll just end up hurt again, his best days are behind him, Ariza could be a good pickup but i'd say he benefited from playing along side Kobe & Gasol, only time will tell. I will miss Ariza, I liked the way he played.

[Angelo]

But he will have Aaron Brooks and T-Mac when he's back.

T-Mac ain't coming back my friend either he'll be traded or he'll just end up hurt again, his best days are behind him, Ariza could be a good pickup but i'd say he benefited from playing along side Kobe & Gasol, only time will tell. I will miss Ariza, I liked the way he played.

Id go with what you said BigGameJames its not that i dont like Tmac but hes not as good as he was supposed to be ...and i really think tmac will definitely be traded next season

[Modifly]

Come on guys, I used the seriouscat emoticon for a reason.

Besides, you non-believers aint got faith. I do. He'll be back.

[Andrew]

In all seriousness though, Brooks could turn out to be quite a player.

[Modifly]

In all seriousness though, Brooks could turn out to be quite a player.

Finally. That's what I'm talking about.

[Abctest123]

Doesn't Ariza just sorta do the same sorta thing as Battier though? I mean he's pretty good on defense, but on offense, he just sorta waits there in the corner to shoot a 3. Course, he's more athletic than Battier but Ariza isn't THAT quite of a slasher as his handle isn't too great, but they do similar things. With Artest, they had what Ariza does with probably better defense and scoring (albeit not the most efficient, but still more scoring than Ariza).

Also, Ariza never hit the 3 with any resemblance to consistency really until this post season (he shot only 32% from 3 during the past regular season and before that, never took more than 15 threes a season). Guess time will tell if his 3-point shooting in the playoffs was just him on a nice hot streak or if he's legitimately improved his shot.

[Andrew]

He's still pretty adept at getting to the basket and finishing.

[Modifly]

Battier's defense is far better than Ariza's and Artest's.

Dont forget that Battier can really score if he wants to. He averaged almost 15 points a game in his rookie year, back when he wasn't defensive minded yet.

[Abctest123]

He's still pretty adept at getting to the basket and finishing.

Definitely better than Battier in regards to getting to the basket. Does an OK job, but not great IMO. Though once he does get to the basket, he does finish well with that leaping ability of his. Guess he DOES do a little more than Battier offensively. Still, a bit limiting IMHO in terms of his scoring ability. With Yao out for an unknown amount of time and McGrady out half a season (not sure, think that's what I heard), they need scoring help other than just Aaron Brooks. Though I'm guessing when they signed Ariza, scoring wasn't what they needed from him, plus he has a cheaper contract than Artest.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Kinda reminds of that one time the Hornets signed Posey after he performed well in the finals.