Kupchak surely had all these cases in his mind when Ariza balked at the his original 5-year, $30 million dollar offer. Kupchak probably just chuckled. After being responsible for making Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, and Vladamir Radmanovic $75 million richer, I’m sure there was some hesitency. He had been burned by these sorts of deals in the past, and now Ariza, who had one good year out of five in the NBA, wanted more? Who was he kidding?
And with somebody like former All-Star Ron Artest, who was somebody with a much longer record of consistency, who was somebody who would walk from Houston to LA to sign his contract in his own blood… can you fault Kupchak for pulling the trigger so quickly?
Kupchak called Ariza’s bluff perfectly, and it was found Ariza wasn’t holding many cards. He signed with Houston, for 5-years and $30 million dollars. And make no mistake about it, Kupchak was killed by everybody. Exchanging the young, budding Trevor Ariza for the aging enigma that was Ron Artest? How could he be so foolish to tinker with championship chemistry?