Simmer down Kings fans (and Kings themselves, for that matter). I'm told the agreed-on deal sending Ron Artest to Houston is stil in place, that Houston hasn't been scared off by their first trip to the Ron-Ron circus.
So too says the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen in this piece. As for the venom spewed my way this morning, I'll say only that it's predictable in every way. Killing the messenger is no new practice. And for the umpteenth time, writers don't write headlines in the paper (or on online stories). We do write headlines in the blog posts, though.
MILLER TO CHICAGO?
The Brad Miller-to-Chicago rumor started with a Bulls blogger here, and was subsequently written about in today's edition of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald here.
Here's what I know on this situation...
I was told yesterday by a source close to the Kings that basketball president Geoff Petrie has not spoken with Bulls GM John Paxson about Brad Miller. Now I don't think that means Paxson couldn't have called asking about Miller, but it seems the consensus is that Brad's time to be dealt is much more likely to be next summer.
Spencer Hawes has made significant strides, but they want to keep Brad around to help with the transition and knowing full well that Miller could elicit better offers next summer because of his then-expiring deal ($12.2 million). Now the disclaimer here is this: if the Kings could grab a Joakim Noah now (who Petrie has been very high on and wanted to draft last summer) and maybe even a pick, then maybe they expedite the process. Especially with the Artest watch seemingly coming near an end, mark the Bulls down as someone to watch in the Miller sweepstakes.
According to a league source, the Bulls have interest in Miller (and many others) and are shopping forward Andres Nocioni (four years, $29 million left with team option for the 2012-13 at $7.5 million) and point guard Kirk Hinrich (five seasons left for combined $44.5 million). They appear very motivated to do a deal of some kind now that the Luol Deng situation has been resolved. - Sam Amick
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