logo

O’Neal keeping the pace

June 4, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

Related Items

Jermaine ONealJermaine O’Neal has decided against opting out of his current contract, and therefore will stay with the Indiana Pacers. O’Neal currently has 2-years and $44 million left on his contract, but still had an opt-out clause worked in. He had till June 30th to decide if he wanted to become a free agency, but he wasted no time saying he wanted to be a Pacer. Or did he?

It’s no secret that O’Neal actually has no interest of being in Indiana. Jermaine’s stated plenty of times before that he has no interest in being part of a rebuilding project, and thats exactly what the Pacers are.

It’s also no secret that Larry Bird does not want O’Neal to be part of this team. And who can blame him? Two seasons worth of knee injuries, not performing anywhere close to All-Star caliber, who’d want him on their team? Jermaine played in just 42 games last season, scoring about 13 points and a tad under 7 rebounds a game. Bird has expected O’Neal to stay with the team, as there was no chance O’Neal could make similar money in free agency.

If you notice, I just said who’d want him on their team? And, I’m serious!!! Who wants a guy with a bum knee and can’t play an entire season, and makes $20+ million a year. He’s played only 206 games over the past 4 seasons. That’s an average of about 51 games over an 82 game season, thats numbers you expect from a 8th or 9th guy on the bench. With two years left on his deal, you aren’t going to find many teams who want cap relief trying to get him as they’ll have to wait themselves.

I’m not sure who the Pacers could get for him in a deal. My guess is that he’s a Pacer all season and pretty unhappy about it. What do you guys think?


Feel free to follow us on TWITTER and/or subscribe to our RSS feed. readers comments
  1. Reading is Great! Thursday’s NBA Rumors, Breaking News, and Blog Links - EmptyTheBench.com on June 5th, 2008 1:21 pm

    [...] - RajonRondo9 - In the midst of a media blitz, Boston’s PG Rajon Rondo has a new website. - MySportsRumors - Jermaine O’ Neal loves playing for the Pacers making $44 million. - And One - Report: [...]

  2. Pacers finally move ONeal - MySportsRumors.com on June 25th, 2008 11:56 pm

    [...] a lot from this deal? The main reason once again is they found a taker for Jermaine O’Neal. They’ve been trying to move him forever now! He’s one guy I truly did not expect them to be able to move and still get something of value [...]





Sports Apparel

Sports Apparel

Looking for authentic sports gear but not the prices MLB and NFL charge? Check out Sports Fanfare.

Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker

This is where I play my online poker. Come find me!

Lids

Lids

Lids has a huge clearance sale going on including free shipping!!

Netflix

Netflix

There are plenty of good sports movies out there. Go rent them for cheap!

MLB Tickets

MLB Tickets

Summer is here and the MLB action is heating up. Don\'t miss out be at the ballpark!

MLB Shop

MLB Shop

10% off Home & Office gear and collectibles at MLB.com

50% off at FYE

50% off at FYE

You can get up to 50% off Blu-Ray discs at FYE.com

Madden 2010

Madden 2010

The only NFL game to own is back! Comes out August 14th preorder now!

NFL Shop

NFL Shop

10% off your order at NFL.com

Sports Weekly

Sports Weekly

It\'s middle of the baseball season stay up to date with all the news.

fye.com Up 50% OFF Blu Ray Expires June 30

JR Tips - Free Sports Picks