So it’s a done deal. TJ Ford has been shipped to Indiana along with Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th overall pick in the draft and a spare part. In return Jermaine O’Neal heads eastward to Toronto.
It’s obvious how the deal benefits the Pacers as they get rid of Jermaine’s huge contract, acquire a starting PG, an expiring contract and another first round selection.
So if you are Larry Bird you’re sitting there with two decent first round picks (11 & 17), a decent PG and surely an improvement over Jamaal Tinsley, as well as additional cap relief in the terms of Rasho Nesterovic’s expiring contract. Honestly, the Pacers aren’t going to do any damage in the next two seasons with or without O’Neal on their roster. So why not blow it up and start over with a core of Ford, Mike Dunleavy, their two first round picks and their cap room. Worse comes to worse, Ford’s contract expires in a few years anyway. In addition his contract is 80% covered by insurance she he have a career ending injury. If I’m Indiana there is zero reason that I don’t pull the trigger here.
Now moving onto Bryan Colangelo’s perspective.
BC is not going to receive 100 cents on the dollar for Ford as it’s widely known that he won’t be back in Toronto this fall. So moving him to the Pacers wouldn’t be a terrible move.
Taking on Jermaine’s contract and the remaining $44 million also isn’t as bad as it would appear to be. The Raptors would be paying Ford, Rasho, The Scrub and their draft pick $20 million this season regardless, so the first season of O’Neal’s deal is moot. Thus, the Raptors would essentially only be on the hook for one season at $23 million. If O’Neal isn’t a good fit, so what. It will only be a two year experiment. Worst case scenario is that the Raptors have over $20 million in cap relief in two years.
But if Jermaine O’Neal returns to form (doubtful) he’ll be a beast. He will instantly improve Toronto’s front court scoring, defense and rebounding by leaps and bounds. It’s not inconceivable to think that a healthy O’Neal makes Toronto the second best team in the east behind Boston. And barring a Boston playoff collapse (almost happened twice this season) the Raptors could sneak into the finals where they could watch Kobe put up 81 again.
A Raptors line-up of Calderon and Parker in the backcourt would be above average. Calderon (without having to look over his shoulder for TJ) will be an Eastern Conference All-Star in 2009. A front court of Bosh, O’Neal and Bargnani / Moon would also look quite good. The addition of O’Neal would obviously also take a ton of pressure of Bargnani and hopefully allow him to find his groove.
So, if I’m Toronto I think this deal makes a lot of sense as well.
Granted, Jermaine O’Neal might be the oldest 29 year old in league history ( I feel like he’s been in the league since 1989 and his 46 years old) but if he’s healthy this deal could seriously work wonders for the Dinos. If he bombs, big deal. Toronto will see a ton of cap relief in a few years and rid themselves of Ford which needs to be done anyway.
