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Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 9:22 pm**

Rumors: Can Mavs Land O'Neal?

By: Bill Ingram

Every player has a defining moment. It's the moment when the cosmic tumblers converge in just the right way and a little light clicks on. For Jermaine O'Neal that moment came on November 19th, 2004. It was the night of the infamous brawl in Detroit.

It wasn't the brawl, exactly, that jolted Jermaine into a new state of awareness. It was going home and explaining the fight and his ensuing suspension to his young daughter . . .and then sitting at home game after game as his teammates fought on without him.

That same season (2004-05) marked the last time O'Neal was actually healthy enough to play every night. Aside from the suspension, O'Neal appeared in 44 of the 47 games he was eligible for, averaging a career-high 24.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest. Since then he has struggled to stay healthy or come close to averaging those same numbers, but Jermaine O'Neal is still a player with something to prove.

Pacing the sidelines and trying to make sense out of an insane situation from a coaching perspective that night in Detroit was Rick Carlisle. Carlisle, who built a championship team in Detroit and then watched as his abrupt successor got the ring - a ring that involved beating Carlisle's Pacers in a six-game second round playoff match-up.

Now the word is that Carlisle will be taking over the Dallas Mavericks, and perhaps it's time for two people who were intertwined in a bad situation to find redemption together.

Jermaine O'Neal will be dealt this summer. Count on it. The Pacers offered him around last summer, then again at the trade deadline, and they will most certainly be actively engaged in talks this summer. Mike Dunleavy's emergence has made O'Neal expendable, and the Mavericks have exactly the piece the Pacers desire.

Josh Howard will also be dealt this summer. For all of his promise as an All-Star forward, his public discussion of his marijuana use has made him an undesirable in Dallas. This is not the first time an O'Neal-for-Howard swap has been brought up and it won't be the last. This time, however, when the Pacers call the Mavericks should listen.

O'Neal represents everything that's missing in Dallas. He's a low post scoring threat who also rebounds and blocks shots. He's a force to be reckoned with in the paint - something the Mavs have been missing ever since Roy Tarpley was suspended from the NBA for drug use. O'Neal says he will be healthy next season for the first time in several years, and given a head coach who thoroughly understands his game and a point guard who can set him up brilliantly (Jason Kidd), perhaps O'Neal, Carlisle, and the Mavericks can do something special together.

The window is rapidly closing in Dallas; some say it has already slammed shut. The emergence of the Hornets in the Southwest Division has put the Mavs - and even the Spurs - in the rearview mirror and fading fast. If the Mavs are going to get a ring during the Nowitzki era, it will have to be soon. Bringing in Jermaine O'Neal would be a big first step in getting back on the championship course.

Link- http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=8580

I think their suggesting a deal of Howard and Dampier for O'Neal. I don't see it. I think i'd need to be a 3 team deal. I don't think Larry Bird would be interested in Howard due to his weed addiction. lol. But i also think if Indiana is going to deal O'Neal, they are going to recieve a top 10 pick. Can Howard land a high pick?

I wouldn't mind Dampier. I think he could be actually quiet decent in the East and maybe they land Brendon Bass? He reminds me alot of a Dale Davis. Our folks would LOVE that kid.

Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 9:41 pm**

Short of Dirk or Kidd, the Mavs don't have much that we would want that would enable them to match salaries with JO. Some combination of Howard, Dampier, and/or Jason Terry would have to be included in a deal for JO, so far as I can see.

Howard is good, but he does not have a low-cost contract and we already have Granger and Dunleavy.

Terry is pretty good, but he has a horrible contract with four years left to go.

Dampier is not very good, and he has a horrible contract that is longer than Jermaine's.

Also, Dallas traded away two first-round picks to New Jersey in the Kidd deal, so they can't really offer us draft picks.

So all things considered, I think the Pacers are better off hanging onto JO, unless perhaps a third team gets involved.

This story seems pretty bogus to me anyway. Dunleavy makes JO expendable? Riiiiiiight.

Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 9:52 pm**

This is nothing more than some guy speculating. Pacers want nothing to do with Howard and if we do trade JO we want a high pick, something the Mavericks can't offer us.

Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 10:24 pm**

Can Howard play the 2?

If yes, I could've seen us being interested before the drug reports. Now, I can't really see us wanting anything to do with him.

Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 10:43 pm**

Howard can play the 2.5 spot-In between Dunleavy and Granger.

With that logjam, and Howard's character, I think that I'd rather have good characters than good athletes right now in Indy. Stop the damage before trying to fix things.

Posted: **Thu May 8, 2008 11:04 pm**

The logic is flawed:

PLAYER B has emerged so PLAYER A is expendable. Trade PLAYER A for PLAYER C who plays the exact same position as emerging PLAYER B.

Posted: **Fri May 9, 2008 12:09 am**

Theres no way we can even think of this trade. Dampier is making about $11 million per season over the next 4 years, Terry is making about $9 million per season over the next 4 years and Horward is another swingman that we're loaded with (and he has a weed problem, we dont need those types of players). Basically, if trade JO it should be for young talent, draft picks and/or expiring contracts

Posted: **Fri May 9, 2008 12:39 am**

Dampier only has 2 more years guaranteed on his deal. The 3rd year is only guaranteed if he makes an all-star game.

Posted: **Fri May 9, 2008 1:43 am**

Also, Mark Cuban is scary. I'd steer clear of his workings

Posted: **Fri May 9, 2008 1:55 am**

I don't know, he was dumb enough to trade Devin Harris for Jason Kidd so dealing with him may not be such a dumb idea. Not JO for Howard, though, that's just about the last thing we need. Trading big for small is usually a bad idea, and especially in this case where we have waaaaay too many 1-2-3's and not enough 4-5's.

Posted: **Fri May 9, 2008 2:24 am**

Miller4ever wrote:Also, Mark Cuban is scary. I'd steer clear of his workings

Mark Cuban just posted in his blog that he gave Donnie Nelson Jr. full autonomy in player personnel decisions and that he never works on player decisions. That was Donnie Nelson Jr. that pulled that deal, and would possibly pull this deal, not Mark Cuban.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 5:43 am**

its a risk both ways... howard has some off court issues while oneal hasnt managed to stay healthy for quite some time... at the end of the day, its still up to the GM's....

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 6:00 am**

True. However, the whole "off-court issues" thing is greatly magnified, and would put Bird under the immediate firing microscope much more so than the "sticking with JO and his injury history a year longer" thing.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 7:06 am**

Would you guys Take, Shawn Marion,Mark Blount -52# for J.Oneal and Daniels? You guys could rebuild very fast and get a good player in Marion.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 10:00 am**

i wouldnt mind that trade, merely for the salary dump. Personally I wouldnt resign Marion for the $20 mill per season hes going to ask for. In two years, Marion and Blount's contracts will be off the books. We could do that and sign another big named free agent, like Brand
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=4588120

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 4:34 pm**

its game time wrote:Would you guys Take, Shawn Marion,Mark Blount -52# for J.Oneal and Daniels? You guys could rebuild very fast and get a good player in Marion.

I don't know. If Blount was the expiring and Marion was on the books for 2 more years, I'd heavily consider it. I have no interest in trading JO and an expiring and ending up with only Blount after the year. That's a pretty ugly result of a deal.

Take out Daniels and Blount and it's closer.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 4:52 pm**

DannyGranger wrote:i wouldnt mind that trade, merely for the salary dump. Personally I wouldnt resign Marion for the $20 mill per season hes going to ask for. In two years, Marion and Blount's contracts will be off the books. We could do that and sign another big named free agent, like Brand
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=4588120

Big name free agents, so very rarely sign with another team. It really almost never happens. Everyone on the trade boards is convinced their team is signing LeBron in 2 years and they gotta clear cap for him!

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 8:25 pm**

Lebron will likely stay in Cleveland.

I wouldn't do that Dallas deal. JO has only 2 yrs left, now if they still had Devin Harris and those picks to trade we could make a deal. But dampier stinks and Howard is redundant to our strong points.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 9:03 pm**

I would gladly take Dampier to play next to any of our PF's, so long as we didn't give up straight expirings for him, or anything of value.

I think in a platoon with Foster, we'd be set at center, and that Dampier would be great next to JO. I think he'd help take a lot of stress off of JO's knees, especially defensively.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2008 10:09 pm**

I'm okay without Dampier and his contract.

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HoopsWorld: O'Neal to Dallas?

HoopsWorld: O'Neal to Dallas?