A couple weeks ago, I wrote that I believed that the Houston Rockets, if healthy, were a better team than the Los Angeles Lakers. Not surprisingly, I was pretty roundly criticized. Well, it appears that the Rockets have now added Ron Artest to their lineup for Bobby Jackson and a first round pick down the road (plus another throw-in guy I've never heard of). If there was any doubt in my mind before, after this, there is no question to me that Houston is not just the best team in the West, but the best team in the entire league.

Let me say that this is not without risk. Injuries will always play a role on a team with T-Mac and Yao, and Artest has been known to bring down Championship contending clubs (see Indiana). But if things cut the right way for Houston this year, something that is always essential for a team to play for a title regardless of who they are, there will be another banner hanging in the Toyota Center in 2009.

I believe that this move hurts the Lakers on a couple of fronts. One, it makes a contender for their Western Conference crown that much stronger in all the right places to give L.A. problems come playoff time. And two, I really thought that, for the Lakers to truly move to the top of the heap, they had to add someone like Artest and subtract Lamar Odom. Well, that's not going to happen now, and it appears that Lakers' GM Mitch Kupchak may be done with personnel moves. After re-signing Sasha Vujacic the other day, Kupchak was quoted as saying that if they enter next season with the roster they currently have, he'd be thrilled.

While they are clearly a very good team, in my opinion, they've fallen behind Houston and New Orleans in the West already this offseason, and it is debatable whether or not they are actually better than San Antonio, especially if the Spurs add more to their bench. And I personally am not thrilled with the front line of Odom, Paul Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

To begin with, no one really knows what kind of player Bynum will be after the injury. He may indeed come back strong and be the player he appeared to be becoming before the injury, but how well will they mesh? Bynum in the middle will push Gasol to the outside, a place he already spends way too much time. If he ends up floating around the perimeter, taking more jumpers than he already does, he's just about useless. And what about Odom? He does too much of that as well. Will he be as willing to play in the post, or just stay outside while Bynum eats up space? I really don't like this combination of players, even if Bynum is healthy. Either Odom or Gasol has to be moved to get an aggressive perimeter defender who can at least match Odom's offense. With Artest apparently off the market, someone like Tayshawn Prince might fit that role and Pistons GM Joe Dumars has repeatedly said that everyone on his roster is available.

I, for one, don't believe the Lakers, as they are currently constituted, will win the West next year. It's not like they were head-and-shoulders above everyone else last season, anyway. Favorable playoff matchups against Denver and Utah and injuries to San Antonio had as much to do with their ascendance to the Western Title as their play. And they were exposed by Boston in the Finals. Houston, with Shane Battier, Ron Artest and Luis Scola, among others, have the kind of scrappy and/or defensive minded players that gave L.A. fits. If I was Mitch Kupchak, I wouldn't be satisfied because, chances are, they're not going to find another giveaway like Gasol during the season again.

This move also wipes out any possibility that Sacramento will be playing for anything other than Lottery position next year. I thought that they could have gotten a better return for Artest than used-up reserve guard Bobby Jackson. With Denver taking a step backwards, the eighth spot in the West is up for the taking, with the newly constituted Warriors looking like they could be the team to move into that position. Portland seems to be a common favorite to rise into the post-season as well, and The Clippers will be interesting if not good. Teams like Phoenix, Dallas, even Utah may have to watch their backs. So, with the Artest trade, here's how I see the West at the moment.

1. Houston
2. New Orleans
3. L.A. Lakers
4. San Antonio
5. Dallas
6. Utah
7. Golden State
8. Phoenix
9. Portland
10. Denver
11. LA Clippers