Monday, July 9, 2007

Jermaine O'Neal's Future Destination

What team does Jermaine O’Neal play for next season? Here are my top five possibilities, in order of probability:

(1) Los Angeles Lakers
Jermaine O'Neal for Andrew Bynum, Aaron McKie, and Lamar Odom.

This trade would give the Pacers a great mix of a potential star (Bynum), veteran talent (Odom), and future cap relief (McKie). Odom is good for nearly fifteen points and ten rebounds per game, and would do a decent job of replacing O’Neal’s production. It is hard to tell at this point what is holding up this trade. A combination of Kobe and Jermaine O’Neal would surely be an upgrade.

(2) New Jersey Nets
Jermaine O'Neal for Josh Boone, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic, and Antoine Wright.

The Nets would get a good mix of younger talent in this trade. Everyone the Pacers would be receiving is under 27 and still has room to grow as a player. Although this trade wouldn’t bring back the top-tier talent as others would, this would certainly be an attractive package for the Nets.

(3) Celtics
Jermaine O'Neal and Troy Murphy for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen, and Sebastian Telfair.

This trade makes the most sense for both teams of any trade I have put together. So, why isn’t this higher on the list? O’Neal seems to not be interested in playing for the Celtics. With O’Neal, Murphy, Pierce, Allen, and Rondo, the Celtics would definitely be a serious contender for the Eastern Conference championship. For the Pacers, they would be ridding themselves of two huge contracts on their payroll, while bringing in two promising young players (Jefferson and Green), as well as, some major payroll relief upcoming with Theo Ratliff. Additionally, both Allen and Telfair have shown flashes of something special in the past.

(4) Warriors
Jermaine O'Neal and Keith McLeod for Brandan Wright, Monta Ellis, Adonal Foyle, $10,000,000 exception.

If the Pacers are looking to get much better through trading O’Neal for the future, this is a trade that Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh would seriously consider. In Wright and Ellis, the Pacers would be adding premier young talent. With the large trade exception the Warriors received from Charlotte, the Pacers would see major salary cap relief. Golden State would definitely be a contender for the championship next year with a promising mix of Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Jermaine O’Neal, Andris Bierdins, Marco Belinelli, and Mickael Pietrus.

(5) Washington Wizards
Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley for Antawn Jamison, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Andray Blatche (sign-and-trade).

If the Wizards are looking to get better right away, this may be a good way to go. Jamison is a versatile power forward, who would be able to replace most of O’Neal’s point production. In addition, Jamison becomes a free agent after next season, making his contract attractive to the Pacers. Navarro is an exciting combo guard from Spain, who the Wizards own rights to. He owns a quick first step and is capable of shooting consistently from the perimeter. He needs to continue to upgrade his upper body strength, and can be a defensive liability when defending guards quicker and smaller than him. However, Navarro would be great as a new-look from Tinsley. Blatche is a young, promising wing player, who would need to agree to a sign-and-trade.

Other teams such as the Bulls (Brown, Duhon, Noah, Gordon), Hawks (Williams, Childress, Pachulia), Mavericks (Ager, Croshere, Harirs), and Clippers (Kaman, Maggette, Ross) may have the ammo to make a move for the Pacers star.

Aditionally, there is a strong possibility that O’Neal returns next year to the Pacers and they make another run with a nucleus of Marquis Daniels, Ike Diogu, Mike Dunleavy, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Jamaal Tinsley, and Shawne Williams surrounding O’Neal. Either way, it is clear that the Pacers brass has a major decision to make concerning the future of their young all-star.

1 comment:

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