Jermaine O'Neal Sportingnews Interview....

dwpacer · Post #1 » by **dwpacer** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 1:01 am

This was posted this morning at netsdaily.com
(May 31, 9:32am article)

Here's the gist of the conversation:

He won't push for a trade out of respect for the ownership and management of the team.

He did however say that he and Bird will meet after the draft and decide if this team is going to rebuild or not. If they do he wants to leave.

He also has cleared the air on his injury. It's a torn miniscus. It's common with all types of knee tears, ACL, MCL, and PCL, which is why not only the Pacers took every effort to hide the injury, but why mild interest has been made about his services. But Jermaine did say that it's ONLY the miniscus.

From what I've read of the miniscus tear, it's the muscle that support a persons weight of their knee. If torn, it's like the thigh, calf, and shin, and all related bones collide with little protection. But good news is that with proper surgury, rehab, and recovery he can play at the same rate he has been for several years before the injury.

He wants to play another 6-7 years which could mean he's be willing to sign for less if good money is there either this summer or next summer. He has to give notice to opt out by June 30.

Post #2 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 1:15 am

Was just reading something on this on the Indystar.com Pacers Insider blog: Link

Mike Wells essentially says that the Sporting News article he was linked in an email said that JO demanded out, but he wanted to verify that it said no such thing.

Essentially, if we're rebuilding, he'd rather not be here, but if we're simply continuing to build, he'll continue to be happy here. He also said that he won't demand a trade but that it looks like he and Larry are on a similar thought process; if we are rebuilding, it's almost stupid to keep JO.

dwpacer · Post #3 » by **dwpacer** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 1:34 am

J.O. needs to prove he's back. Give it another half season before we close the books and rebuild. It will probably be a similar smaller scale deal to that of Gasol or Kidd.

xxSnEaKyPxx · Post #4 » by **xxSnEaKyPxx** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 1:36 am

I like JO and I really don't think we need to rebuild as oppose to retool. We need to get rid of Tinsley, and find a legit starting PG, maybe through a Foster or Dunleavy trade, and I think we would have a good team.

writerman · Post #5 » by **writerman** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 3:34 am

DGrangeRx33 wrote:I like JO and I really don't think we need to rebuild as oppose to retool. We need to get rid of Tinsley, and find a legit starting PG, maybe through a Foster or Dunleavy trade, and I think we would have a good team.

It's starting to piss me off that everyone here seems to want to move Foster and/or Dunleavy--two of my favorite players and two of very few players on this team who are worth a rats butt in terms of dependability.

I think moving both or either is a bad move that would make us a much worse team. No, even with a good PG, this team without them isn't just worse, it becomes really **** team IMO.

I'd rather try to move Jermaine than either of those. It's becoming clear he doesn't want to be here and doesn't fit in with the style we want to play.

xxSnEaKyPxx · Post #6 » by **xxSnEaKyPxx** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 3:51 am

Foster will likely leave us when he is a FA next year anyway, I hate saying that, but I can see him going to the Spurs to try and win a Championship. As for Dunleavy..he scores, and while I like him, he is pretty one dimensional, he is a huge reason that our defense sucked, people would get by him then everyone would crash to the boards trying to make up for his mistake, then the other team would kick it back out and have wide open 3's the whole game.

Post #7 » by **PR07** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 5:32 am

I'd move Dunleavy or Foster, not because I don't think they are good players, but because I don't know if their value as players will ever be higher. Dunleavy is coming off a career season in pretty much ever category, and Foster had a really solid, fairly injury free 07-08 campaign.

If we can find a trade that makes sense to trade Jermaine, then we should do it. However, to trade Jermaine just for the sake of trading him is stupid.

cdash · Post #8 » by **cdash** » Sun Jun 1, 2008 7:38 am

DGrangeRx33 wrote:Foster will likely leave us when he is a FA next year anyway, I hate saying that, but I can see him going to the Spurs to try and win a Championship. As for Dunleavy..he scores, and while I like him, he is pretty one dimensional, he is a huge reason that our defense sucked, people would get by him then everyone would crash to the boards trying to make up for his mistake, then the other team would kick it back out and have wide open 3's the whole game.

Dunleavy? Really? See I think he is one of our best all around players. Not only does he score, but for a guy who played the wing positions he rebounds very well and his assist numbers werent too bad either. His defense isnt very good, but I dont think I'd go so far as to say he was a "huge reason" our defense sucked. Him basically playing out of position didnt do him any favors on defense either.

I dont really see why everyone on here is convinced Foster will bolt when he is a free agent. While I'm not discounting that as a possibility, I dont think we should just trade him because he might leave. He is the type of guy who has more trade value around the deadline than he would over the summer. Teams looking for an extra big man who can play solid defense, make hustle plays, and rebound pay high rates for guys like Foster around the deadline.

I am not advocating trading them (go figure, they are two of my three favorite Pacers right now), but as PacersRule said, their value isnt likely to increase a great deal. I'm honestly more open to trading Dunleavy this summer, and holding on to Foster until around the deadline to see if any playoff team will overpay for his services.