All Kings' Coach Reggie Theus has been hearing about this summer is how much the community is excited about the return of guard Bobby Jackson, according to Sacramento Bee.

"Bobby Jackson, Bobby Jackson, Bobby Jackson," Theus said. "I say, 'guys, that was eight years ago. He can still play. But that was a long time ago.' The good thing is, I've talked to Bobby and explained to him how important his presence is going to be in the locker room. It's going to be enormous. It's important to mentor the young guys the right way, and a lot of our success is going to depend on how quickly the young guys develop."

Jackson played for the Kings from 2000-05, starting 36 games over his five seasons.

The Kings are hoping that guard Bobby Jackson can become the team leader during his second stint with the team, according to the Sacramento Bee.

"I'm not Superman," Jackson said during a news conference on Thursday. "None of these guys are Superman. We all have to buy into coach (Reggie) Theus' system. We have to play hard."

Jackson, 35, is the oldest member of a relatively young Kings' team.

"We have a lot of different guys here," Jackson said. "We have a group of guys who can play the game. Probably not the All-Star-quality type that Vlade (Divac) and Mike (Bibby) were, but they are all players that can get the job done."

The Houston Rockets announced that they have acquired forward Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings, the Associated Press is reporting.

In addition to Artest, Houston acquired forward Patrick Ewing, Jr. and guard Sean Singletary from the Kings in exchange for guard Bobby Jackson, rookie forward Donte Greene and the Rockets' first-round draft pick in 2009.

The trade was originally reported by the Houston Chronicle on July 29.

"This is definitely the high point of my career," Artest said on a conference call Thursday. "It's the biggest opportunity I've ever had playing basketball."

"He's a different person than he was years ago," Rockets owner Les Alexander said. "He cares about his on-court performance more than he ever has in his life."

Forward Ron Artest, on the verge of becoming a Houston Rocket via trade, has swapped agents, according to Ian Thomson of Sports Illustrated.

David Bauman, who replaces Mark Stevens, said he received the signed agent papers from Artest on Thursday morning. "I look forward to working with Ron," said Bauman, who will be seeking a lucrative contract for Artest when he becomes a free agent in 2009.

Donte Greene's contract is eligible to be traded in only three days, allowing the deal with Sacramento involving Ron Artest and the Houston Rockets to finally go through.

Since Greene had signed a rookie contract with the Rockets, he could not be traded for 30 days.

The Rockets and Kings agreed to a deal involving Artest, Patrick Ewing Jr., and Sean Singletary from Sacramento in exchange for Bobby Jackson, Greene, a No. 1 draft pick next season, and cash.

Kings' rookie Jason Thompson believes that he would have been a much-higher pick in June's NBA Draft if he had gone to a more high-profile college, according to The Sacramento Bee.

"One of the only reasons I might have been projected (in the June draft) where I was projected was because of the school I went to," Thompson said last month in Las Vegas.

"It had nothing to do with talent," he continued. "If I would've gone to North Carolina, or an (Atlantic-10 Conference) school, or to Temple, or a place where the conference was higher up, and averaged what I averaged (statistically) or something close to it..."

Sacramento took Thompson with the 12th overall pick less than two months ago.

"I mean, you've got a guy like (Atlanta's) Marvin Williams, who comes out of North Carolina and wins the championship, coming off the bench and maybe averaging eight points," Thompson continued, the exasperation building. "And he's a No. 2 pick (in 2005). I mean that's what's crazy to me."