Getting Test-y

I read someone (the author will remain unnamed) say that they don't think Artest is worth a first round pick, and I am astonished.

First of all, we aren't even talking about Minnesota, Memphis, Seattle, or Charlotte's first found pick, which might be worth something. This is Houston's first-round pick we are talking about, which realistically I don't expect to be higher than 25th.

For the sake of argument, let's take a look into the 25-30 picks in the first round of the last 3 drafts plus some selected stats from last year (2008 draft excluded because we haven't seen the players play yet).

2005:

25. Johan Petro (6.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG)

26. Jason Maxiell (7.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG)

27. Linas Kleiza (14.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG)

28. Ian Mahinmi (6 GP, 3.8 MPG)

29. Wayne Simien (Waived by Minnesota)

30. David Lee (29 GS, 10.8 PPG, 8.9 RPG)

2006:

25. Shannon Brown (6 GP, 3.7 MPG)

26. Jordan Farmar (9.1 PPG, 2.7 APG)

27. Sergio Rodriguez (2.7 PPG, 8.7 MPG)

28. Maurice Ager (26 GP, 6.4 MPG)

29. Mardy Collins (3.2 PPG, 1.9)

30. Joel Freeland (Not even really playing in Europe)

2007:

25. Morris Almond (9 GP, 4.3 MPG)

26. Aaron Brooks (5.2 PPG, 1.7 APG)

27. Arron Afflalo (3.7 PPG, 0.7 APG)

28. Tiago Splitter (Possibly not coming ever)

29. Alando Tucker (6 GP, 8.0 MPG)

30. Petteri Kopponen (Not yet in the NBA)

Exactly who out of that group would you rather have than Ron Artest? David Lee, Jordan Farmar, Linas Kleiza and Jason Maxiell are semi-solid rotation players. Sergio Rodriguez, Petteri Kopponen and Tiago Splitter seemed poised to be great. But other than that, there isn't really anyone who at this point in their career is much better than an 8th man. So you'd rather have a 50-50 shot of picking your team's third or fourth option, with the other 50 being split between end of the rotation guys and fringe NBA players/D-League stars than Ron Artest. Also remember that the Rockets are saving money with this deal by sending away Bobby Jackson's ridiculous 6.1 million dollar contract. Thanks for your input.