Raptors Looking to Deal Jermaine O’Neal
J.O.Right now, the Raptors and the Warriors have the distinct honor of being the two teams looking to get rid of a big-time free agent who they signed within the last six months. Bryan Colangelo is reportedly trying to move Jermaine O’Neal, possibly in a package with former No. 1 Andrea Bargnani.
Colangelo is reportedly trying to trade Jermaine O’Neal, having spoken with at least a half dozen teams about the big man.
Though scouts have made the incredibly astute observation that J.O. has absolutely no lift left, there’s still a market for an almost 7-footer who can rebound and score around the basket. Here are some teams who might consider dealing for O’Neal and the remaining $40-plus million left on his deal through the ‘09-10 season.
Dallas – Sure Mark Cuban might be terrified of pulling the trigger on another mid-season deal after getting his pants pulled down around his ankles with the J-Kidd-for-Devin Harris swap. But this has to be an attractive possibility for the Mavs, as Cuban wants to bring some excitement to the franchise right now, while also providing some cap space for the apocalyptic 2010 season.
New Orleans – Maybe I’m going out on a limb here, and maybe I’ll get killed for saying this, but Tyson Chandler is terrible. He’s not a real center, because the only thing that he’s actually good for is a highlight-reel finish off a Chris Paul lob. If New Orleans is going to do anything in the playoffs this year, they need someone who can handle some of the monster frontcourts in the West.
Cleveland – With Big Z on the bench for about a month after getting pins put in his left ankle, would the Cavs want to bring J.O. on to help ease the burden over the long run on Anderson Varejao, while also making sure that Ilgauskas doesn’t rush back to the court?
New York – It’s obvious that there’s no interest in getting someone who can actually play basketball in New York right now. The Knicks would sell David Lee’s soul if they could as long as it frees them up for the 2010 sweepstakes.
What’s a possible destination for J.O.?
Source: Real GM
January 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Chris Cason says:
New York has to be up there since they have abandoned all plans for the roster until 2010. Nate Rob, Eddy Curry maybe the only ones left standing in 2010 and than they’ll realize that maybe LeBron would have liked them to start building a winner and showing something now instead of just being able to offer him a lot of money instead of being able to offer him the hope of playing on a contendor. I believe the bulls should take a look at Jermaine O’Neal since teams are now zeroing in on Rose and Gordon.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Kev says:
D-town, trade hamilton
January 5th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
s.W.o. 4 Life says:
Dang! Looks like Raptors Nation has hit a brand new low. Let the panic begin
January 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
dmitry of jersey says:
a Cleveland trade makes sense. sort of. toronto would get wally’s expiring contract and i guess varejao.. which would make the raptors worse.
i guess my beef with that list is you guys (Dime) just threw out team names without thinking who would go where. toronto wants to win now while Bosh is killing it so they’re not going to dump o’neal for Wally just like that.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Coop says:
Had Colangelo not had HIS pants pulled down by Kapono’s agent then they might not be so stiffed. They could have let JO expire and either let him go or re-sign him for very little, AND have loads of money to spend. Instead, they’re lumbered with a bunch of long contracts and crap players.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Dime Magazine says:
dmitry,
We were thinking more about who would be interested in J.O., not exactly what the prospective deal would be. I still do think, though that Cleveland could pull something off that would interest Toronto. Maybe they’d have to include Wally, Darnell Jackson, and some sort of pick to make it happen, but it’s not impossible…
- AK
January 5th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
mules says:
Unless it’s a cap space move for ‘10 I would think all of these teams would be more interested in Brad Miller. He’s basically putting up the same points/rebounds/percentage numbers (+2 assists/game, -1 block/game) at half the cost of O’Neal ($10M vs $20M).
January 5th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
snoop_robb says:
How about the Rockets?
January 5th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
dagwaller says:
AK, check out the comment at the end of Smack a couple days ago (Tyson’s Punchout). I have your back. He’s been average ever since he came into the league.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
dLee says:
I don’t think that the Rockets would want another injury-prone former “star”
January 5th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
mules says:
plus didn’t the Rockets just sign Deke?
January 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
JCARR says:
J.O- to the kings for Brad Miller.
J.O- to the bucks for Andrew Bogut.
J.O- to 76ers. for who?
Tyson is not just terrible he is an irrelevant 7 foot piece of sh*t, who doesnt do his job, and bullies people with broken wrists.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Jau28 says:
As a raptors fan I don’t think JO is gonna be traded b/c most teams aren’t going to give up enough for him. Plus when his contract runs out for us we’ll have loads of cap space so it makes no sense to take on another long contract which is probably what would happen is we dealt him. I mean sure for the first 10-15 games he was horrible shooting like 20% from the field and grabbing 5 boards and just not flowing with the team b/c he’s a ball stopper but in the last 10 games that he has played he’s been much better and he’s had two stretches in between injuries (ya I know he’s sitting a lot) where he has had solid double double games shooting close to 50%. So if he keeps that up (BIG if) then he’s exactly what we need.
However if I were a betting man my guess is that Chicago would probably be the team that pushes for JO the most b/c they’ve needed a low post threat ever since they dealt Eddy C. The bulls have big contracts like Larry Hughes and he’d be a decent short term fixture at SG for us and maybe throw in a Deng or Selfolosha or Noah in there. However, I HIGHLY doubt the bulls would part with Deng for O’neal and the raptors wouldn’t want Noah. But if we could get D.Rose somehow… wow…. never gonna happen but that would keep Bosh in town for sure.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Steve Gomez 10a-2p on Hot 104.7 Modesto, CA says:
Sactown seems to make sense. He’d be the best PF they’ve had since C-Webb. Spencer Hawes could move over to his natural Center spot with J.O at the 4. B-Rad+Kenny Thomas works. But i’m guessing Colangelo would want Jason Thompson and the Kings aren’t giving him up.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Jah says:
Miami.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Kobeef says:
What GM in his right mind would trade for a player with 2 years at $40 Million for a player with knees made of glass?
O’Neal was a huge mistake and while we are talking about con-artists (Chandler) Bryan Colangelo is garbage.
The only tradeable asset the Raptors have is Bosh and he is worth about half of what he was before his MVP proclaimation.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
deeds says:
Well first of all, the Raptors wouldn’t package O’Neal with Bargnani….that makes no sense whatsoever. It’s one or the other, but not both. Seeing as how Bargnani is Colangelo’s golden child (and is still young with loads of potential), and O’Neal is on the downside of his career and not really in Toronto’s long term plans, he would be the one to go. Having said that I agree with the idea that most teams are not going to be willing to give up enough for Colangelo to pull the trigger. He will more likely wait out the contract, or make a move next year when that expiring contract can get something big in return. But i would be surprised if he is moved this year.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
AY says:
tyson chandler is a much better defensive player than jermaine o’neal, and new orleans need something at the SG spot instead of swapping out their center because they’re getting absolutely nothing from mo pete and rasual butler. no contender would want him so forget cleveland, it’s got to be a small for big from one of the borderline teams. I like orlando with him, but they won’t get enough salaries together to get him; the guy is pulling 20mil. Unless the raps get some major youth for him, i bet they’ll just let him come off the books once his contract runs out this year.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Andrej says:
jermaine has been sorta healthy and hes had some good games i dont think they wud want to trade him right when they get him and bosh is the main man jermaine without bosh wud easily average 23 and 11
January 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
ticktock6 says:
@ #18: Whatever. Mo Pete and Rasual Butler are totally a decent productive 2. Oh, you meant individually, not squished together into one player? Then yeah.
Chandler is a defensive center who has zero offensive moves other than the alley oop. Now, I like him, but he was in the top 5 league rebounders last year and this year he’s down A LOT. It’s a major issue for the Hornets, combined with the fact that D West’s rebounds are also down. However. I don’t know who they could deal with the salaries they have. And they need a creative slasher type more.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Leify43 says:
why would the bulls not jump on this? mabye move gordon who wont resign bring in a veteran big man in oneal and a young guy in bargnani that could fit in with rose itd be so tight. and the raptors would love to have gordon they need a two gaurd
January 5th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Heckler says:
jermaine o’neal and ben wallace will NEVER be teammates. so you dime guys can x-out any plans of o’neal in cleveland.
the bulls need him the most and have pieces they can send to toronto. most notably ben gordon; since gordon is not gonna re-sign with chicago in the off season. bulls might as well get something for him now and o’neal with rose, hughes and deng would be solid.
oklahoma city should look at JO too. i know they aint about to start throwing millions at any one player, but dammit give kevin durant some help. at least for the next 2yrs.
charlotte bobcats can be players. they can move adam morrison, sean may and felton for jermaine o’neal and jason kapono.
sacramento might also want to look at adding o’neal. maybe for brad miller straight up. imagine o’neal and kevin martin together for 2 seasons….
boston and ny are both unlikely.
however, NJ might be interested in JO again. maybe for shawn williams, yi ji lian and keyon dooling
January 5th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Brown says:
Other than the Knicks, who only look at contracts that expire in 2010, who would want him? NBA.com says he’s only missed 7 games this year, but he’s been hurt early and missed at least 3-5 more. He keeps going down with various injuries. The Raps try to mask it as his ankle, shoulder, right knee, etc., but everyone knows it’s his surgically repaired left knee that’s keeping him out. He missed almost 2 years to rehab his knee and it’s still not better. JO’s out of the league come 2010. He’s nothing more than a contract right now.
Another genius move by Brian Colangelo. Could someone please explain to me how he got a reputation for being a good GM? He hasn’t made one smart move since he got to Toronto. Maybe trading Araujo for Humphries, which hasn’t really made much of a difference. He signed Anthony Parker, who’s no better or worse than MoPete. This team is no better than it was when they first hired him.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
TCL says:
@ Heckler:
Why would the Raptors ever want the poo-poo platter of Adam Morrison, Sean May and Raymond Felton?
Ditto for the horrid New Jersey package as well.
Raptors won’t trade O’Neal for random (horrid) expiring contracts in 2010 because he IS an expiring contract for 2010.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
tim says:
why would they trade someone they just got????
He’s had some nice games, its not like he’s playing liek Kwame Brown?
January 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am
inspiredworlds says:
I dont think the raps would move 2 x 7 footers. they’d be giving up too much height. I think Barganiani could still improve – he plays well when given more minutes.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:51 am
TomGfromCanada says:
where did this come from, J.O. is not going anywhere.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Jau28 says:
@Brown
We considered him a good GM the year he came in when we won 47 games which was a 20game inprovement so obviously we all thought he was god and everything. But ever since then the large majority of us are putting colangelo on thin ice… so ya get ur facts right b/c most of us don’t think he’s a good GM. he’s just average
January 6th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Gary says:
how come nobody talks about Chris Bosh bouncing the Raptors . . . . he’s going to leave for sure . . mark my words! He wants to win real bad and he wants some accolades . . both aren’t crossing the border into Canada!
January 6th, 2009 at 4:29 am
TheAnswer71086 says:
Detroit for Kwame, Maxiel and Walter Hermann
January 6th, 2009 at 10:19 am
MSkittle says:
Good call about the Knicks. I can see that with the Donnie Walsh connection and all.
January 16th, 2009 at 2:42 am
BC says:
Bring J.O to the Bulls for Nocioni and Hughes the salaries work, and it makes sense for both teams. J.O and Bosh has not worked and Bargnani is playing good as of late, they need outside shooting and perimeter D, while the Bulls desperately need interior D and scoring. As a Bulls fan I hope Paxson makes this happen!