JO wants to play HOW many more years?

[Mr October]

If he was making <3.5 million per season and filled a theo ratliff-esque role, that would work for me at 3 years.

That's not going to happen though. I hope he has fun on the "contending" clippers at 6 million a clip.

$10/3 as a backup center would be a good deal - (not for the Celtics though).

If we could dump Rasheed, I'd do that deal.

Yeah, the clock is ticking on Sheed. And a swap there could make sense. But I still have no interest in O'Neal. He's only going to get worse.

The outstanding moments of the play of TA and Davis in this series has driven home a major message in my mind. The Celtics are badly in need of young energetic two way players, specifically players who are still hungry to prove themselves. Otherwise this team will keep getting slower and slower.

[nickagneta]

Per-36 minutes stats for two players:

Player A: 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, 52.9% FG%

Player B: 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks, 52.1% FG%

To end any suspense:  Player A is Jermaine O'Neal, and Player B is Kevin Garnett.  In other words, J.O. is still a fairly productive player, even if he's not what he used to be.

Another reason why stats do not always paint the correct picture.

Picture 1: A heart and a brain

Picture 2: A heart and a brain

Which one do you want?

Picture 1 is that of Jermaine O'Neal's and Picture 2 is that of Kevin Garnett's.

Jermaine O'Neal is not nearly as reliable, winning, dependable, intelligent, talented, clutch or unending in his effort as KG and never will be, regardless of stats.

[Edgar]

It was almost sad to watch him play in this last series, though.  He used to be quite a player.  He looked rather washed up.

True, although I think J.O. is quite a bit better than he just showed.  I mean, he's not a 20/10 player any more, but he's also not 4/6, either.  For the season, he averaged 14/7 in 28 minutes per game.

Always pimping the CroNats....always.

  Once a crotornat always a crotornat

[KungPoweChicken]

If JO would play for us around the vet minimum, I would plug him in at center and trade Perk for some young talent.

[Roy Hobbs]

Per-36 minutes stats for two players:

Player A: 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, 52.9% FG%

Player B: 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks, 52.1% FG%

To end any suspense:  Player A is Jermaine O'Neal, and Player B is Kevin Garnett.  In other words, J.O. is still a fairly productive player, even if he's not what he used to be.

Another reason why stats do not always paint the correct picture.

Picture 1: A heart and a brain

Picture 2: A heart and a brain

Which one do you want?

Picture 1 is that of Jermaine O'Neal's and Picture 2 is that of Kevin Garnett's.

Jermaine O'Neal is not nearly as reliable, winning, dependable, intelligent, talented, clutch or unending in his effort as KG and never will be, regardless of stats.

Nobody is saying that they're the same player.  However, in terms of measurable production, they're very similar.  Anybody who thinks JO is completely cooked just hasn't followed him this year.

[hpantazo]

Per-36 minutes stats for two players:

Player A: 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, 52.9% FG%

Player B: 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks, 52.1% FG%

To end any suspense:  Player A is Jermaine O'Neal, and Player B is Kevin Garnett.  In other words, J.O. is still a fairly productive player, even if he's not what he used to be.

Another reason why stats do not always paint the correct picture.

Picture 1: A heart and a brain

Picture 2: A heart and a brain

Which one do you want?

Picture 1 is that of Jermaine O'Neal's and Picture 2 is that of Kevin Garnett's.

Jermaine O'Neal is not nearly as reliable, winning, dependable, intelligent, talented, clutch or unending in his effort as KG and never will be, regardless of stats.

Nobody is saying that they're the same player.  However, in terms of measurable production, they're very similar.  Anybody who thinks JO is completely cooked just hasn't followed him this year.

I agree with Roy, JO is still a very productive big man, it's just that Perk made him look that bad in the 1st round series. Perkins can also make Dwight Howard look bad. We need to give more credit to Perkins' defense rather than to JO's lack of ability.

[nickagneta]

Per-36 minutes stats for two players:

Player A: 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, 52.9% FG%

Player B: 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks, 52.1% FG%

To end any suspense:  Player A is Jermaine O'Neal, and Player B is Kevin Garnett.  In other words, J.O. is still a fairly productive player, even if he's not what he used to be.

Another reason why stats do not always paint the correct picture.

Picture 1: A heart and a brain

Picture 2: A heart and a brain

Which one do you want?

Picture 1 is that of Jermaine O'Neal's and Picture 2 is that of Kevin Garnett's.

Jermaine O'Neal is not nearly as reliable, winning, dependable, intelligent, talented, clutch or unending in his effort as KG and never will be, regardless of stats.

Nobody is saying that they're the same player.  However, in terms of measurable production, they're very similar.  Anybody who thinks JO is completely cooked just hasn't followed him this year.

Don't get me wrong, I think he is still productive.

In the regular season and in the first half of games.

I do think he can be easily game planned against, easily taken out of his game with strong defense, will wilt under pressure, and will disappear if he gets a bit banged up or decides he doesn't want to try hard.

I just think trying to prove he is productive by comparing his numbers to those of Garnett's knowing Garnett is sacrificing his numbers for the team good while playing through a rehabilitation of a major knee operation does a disservice to Garnett.

I think he is a productive player still. So is Andrea Bargnani. I still would want neither as a starting big man on my team and though KG, JO and Bargs all have similar per 36 numbers, only KG is the difference making player I want from that trio.

[Trifecta]

JO has always been a decent player. Biggest thing with him is that he shrinks in big moments. Contenders don't really go for that type of player, unless of course the team is stacked and he could be used off the bench in limited minutes. I think he could do pretty well in the right role off the bench being a "stop-gap" so to speak. Definitely not the type of player that's gonna push you over the top to win a title though.

All in all I think he's being reasonable if he's saying he wants to play 3 to 4 more seasons. He should be able to hold up.

[freshinthehouse]

I would help Sheed pack his bags if we could somehow move his deal and pick up JO.  Soft or not, at least JO isn't allergic to the paint like our friend Rasheed.

[Eeyore III]

JO is the "oldest" looking 31-year-old player I ever saw.

His decline has been so steep that, if someone is dumb enough to sign him, he'll be being compared to the end-of-career Artis Gilmore in 2 years, not KG.

Roy's KG comparison, to me, is a depressing reminder of KG's decline, not proof that JO is some sort of prize going forward.    

[wdleehi]

Players want to get extra years on guaranteed contracts? 


No kidding.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I agree it's reasonable. He's not going to be playing max minutes for 3-4 more years, but could prove to be a worthy  asset coming off the bench.

I think anyone on this board who has written J.O. off as a result of his 1st round performance against us is crazy. He clearly had a terrible series (worst of his career) and something (confidence/psyche) was off about him all series long.

He hustles, he can bang, he has a post game and a 17-foot jumper, and he's usually rather reliable at the line.

I'd be on board to sign J.O. for the veteran's minimum, and I think he could be much more than P.J. Brown was to this team during the championship season.

[jasail]

He is a good 3/4 big on a team.  He could be a valuable piece off the bench.  He is not a starter, but he could be a valuable limited role player.  If he was to come to the C's he would maybe be a marginal improvement over Sheed. 

That said I don't like him on the C's.  Celtics bench need hustle and energy guys.  IMO a big problem this year was that the C's bench had too many "just settle" personalities.  JO's stats may be good but he fits the "just settle" bill to a T. 

Only things I'd like to see in the offseason is an athletic 3/4 and big that rebounds.  That and a couple draft picks that could infuse some life into this team as the begrudgingly make their way through the regular season.     

[nickagneta]

Let's say the C's could trade Rasheed away to say Philly(if Larry Brown ends up there) for Jason Kapono, I wouldn't mind giving O'Neal a deal of say 2 years and $6-8 million to be our backup center.

It would move Baby into his more natural position of mid range perimeter big, would lose us that third year of the Rasheed debacle of a contract and give the C's a great three point shooter coming off the bench in Kapono. With a resigned Tony Allen and enough money left over from the MLE to sign a free agent PG like Steve Blake or Earl Watson, that could be an interesting team next year:

Rondo/Blake
Ray/Tony
Pierce/Kapono
KG/Baby
Perk/O'Neal

and two draft picks and a vet minimum guy or two.

It might not be a perfect title contending team but if free agents move around a lot next year, this team in it's fourth year together would be formidable. It also would have Pierce, Kapono, Davis,  and Perk coming off the books in 2011 and KG, Ray, Tony, JO, and Blake coming off the books in 2012.

[Brendan]

He'd be a good third big. His defense is still OK (it's not like Perk or BBD torched him.)

He had a PER of 17.92 last year (which tied him with Shaq for 14th best for centers.) Based on production its easy to argue he should be a starting Center on a team that doesn't depend on running their offense through him.

If he was playing on this Celts team (say instead of Scal) he would have beat out BBD, Sheed, and Sheldon for minutes off the bench - and challenged Perk for the starting spot.

All that being said - assuming C's are trying to muscle out one more year of competing around the big 3 he'd be a good guy to have on the bench next year. It won't happen unless Sheed takes a buyout for $5.