Wow, can you believe this news?

I like Ron Artest and the bold move that Rockets GM Daryl Morey may be taking here, but I was a little excited that the Rockets had gotten “their man” (Donte Greene) during the NBA draft. Now they may be dealing him. But just goes to show that owner Les Alexander has always had a “win now” attitude, so this move wouldn’t surprise me.

So they will deal Greene, a #1 pick, Bobby Jackson, and another player. I don’t know how the numbers will line up, so this is all speculation, but could it be Shane Battier, who plays Artest’s small forward spot? Or could it be Carl Landry or Joey Dorsey, who both play power forward, a position that Artest plays at times. I hope not that, either. I’m hoping it’s Luther Head, Chuck Hayes or maybe Steve Novak. We’ll see.

Reader Brian provided the following update after my original post:

NBA front-office sources confirmed to ESPN.com that Artest will be dealt to the Rockets in exchange for Houston’s first-round draft pick in 2009, ex-King Bobby Jackson (who arrives with a $6.1 million expiring contract) and the draft rights to Donte Greene. The Kings will also receive more than $1 million in cash, according to The Houston Chronicle, but the deal can’t be announced before Aug. 14 because Greene is not eligible to be traded before then.

the numbers add up

Tuesday night the Chinese got payback against Angola at the FIBA Diamond Cup tournament in Nanjing, beating them 83-74.

Click here for more photos from the game.

Earlier in the evening, Yao Ming’s Rocket teammate Luis Scola helped his Argentinian team win 81-71 against Iran by chipping in 23 points. Click here for more photos from that game.

Talk about a confluence of cultures.

On Monday in Nanjing, China before the FIBA Diamond Cup tournament starts on Tuesday, Yao met up with Argentina’s Luis Scola, a fellow Houston Rocket, in a German restaurant. And teams from the 4 other countries that will be playing in the tournament also attended the meal. Got all that?

Also at the restaurant was our flopper extraordinaire, Manu Ginobili, who was celebrating his 31st birthday.

Check out all the photos from the restaurant by clicking here.