NBA Movers & Shakers: Childress & Artest

Two interesting moves have gone down recently in the NBA, with the former Hawk Josh Childress deciding to play overseas, and with the Houston Rockets trading for Ron Artest.

First up is the move Josh Childress made as he moved away from the NBA to play ball in Europe. Childress liked the amount the European team was offering and he was soon packed and ready to go. While Childress isn't exactly the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, he definitely brought them a lot of his talents in the playoffs. The Hawks took it the full 7 games before losing to eventual NBA champs, the Celtics. There was recent rumors that Ben Gordon might head overseas as well, as the Bulls may not be able to pay him what he wants either. According to the latest ESPN magazine, we may see even more NBA players make the move overseas, while the NBA brings in more European players.

The other interesting move was a trade with the Houston Rockets acquiring star defender and former fight-starter, Ron Artest. Artest brings Houston even more defensive toughness now, as they have Yao Ming manning the middle and then Artest and Battier down low for rebounds and scrappy plays. With that sort of solid defensive trio, the Rockets have a great shot to go deep in the 2008-09 playoffs out West. Of course that is if Yao Ming can remain healthy enough to give them some help in the playoffs...