Report: Jermaine O'Neal agrees to sign with the Celts (update on page 11)

[the_Bird]

All you JO haters out there who would you rather have? Shaq, Brad Miller?

Be realistic with what we have to work with. J. O'Neal is a great addition for some of the MLE.

Some people would complain if they got LJ for MLE so you have to understand that.

They guy averaged 14/7 last year.  If we even get that out of him he's an upgrade over our starter from last year.  I'll be quite happy if DA can get him in here.

Offensively he'd be an upgrade if we get 14 and 7 out of him.  He is definitely not an upgrade on the defensive end though and rebounding.

Along with that he wouldn't be averaging 14 points on our squad because he would be the fifth option.

I think you may be underrating J.O.'s defense.  He's an above average defensive player, and he has the length to block and change shots.  He's also an okay rebounder, and certainly better than Brad Miller.

He's not a better defender and upgrade than Perk period end of discussion.

As noted, this is irrelevant.

There is one area that JO *is* a lot better than Perk, though, and why he could be on the floor at the end of a few fourth quarters.  Perk hit 58% of his free throws last year; JO hit 72% last year, and in the latter part of his time in Indiana through his stay in Toronto was hitting 75% - 80%.  

Not that I particularly trust him to hit *clutch* free throws, but I don't trust Perk to even catch iron when the pressure's on.  

Just another option for another big defender besides KG, in close games he's a guy that's not a TOTAL liability in they-need-to-foul-us situations.

[housecall]

I can see it working out once Perk's back...when you need a scoring punch off the bench alone with shot blocking,decent defense JO is better than any of the other free agents out there.He is not the worst C to have to deal with Dwight Howard either,if Perk's in early foul trouble ?

[Roy Hobbs]

For those who like Miller over J.O., is it simply a durability thing?  O'Neal scores more, grabs more rebounds, blocks more shots, gets more assists, and shoots a higher percentage.

but both we're "anchors" on that 2009 championship team......Portland CrotorNats.

(haha, JO, Shaq, Turiaf, Brad Miller... there must have been some nights when Haddadi started  )

Miller played 82 games last year, so we had that going for us.  But yes, sadly, the CrotoNats were One and Done in terms of championships, I think.

[Jon]

All you JO haters out there who would you rather have? Shaq, Brad Miller?

Be realistic with what we have to work with. J. O'Neal is a great addition for some of the MLE.

Some people would complain if they got LJ for MLE so you have to understand that.

They guy averaged 14/7 last year.  If we even get that out of him he's an upgrade over our starter from last year.  I'll be quite happy if DA can get him in here.

Offensively he'd be an upgrade if we get 14 and 7 out of him.  He is definitely not an upgrade on the defensive end though and rebounding.

Along with that he wouldn't be averaging 14 points on our squad because he would be the fifth option.

I think you may be underrating J.O.'s defense.  He's an above average defensive player, and he has the length to block and change shots.  He's also an okay rebounder, and certainly better than Brad Miller.

He's not a better defender and upgrade than Perk period end of discussion.

As noted, this is irrelevant.

There is one area that JO *is* a lot better than Perk, though, and why he could be on the floor at the end of a few fourth quarters.  Perk hit 58% of his free throws last year; JO hit 72% last year, and in the latter part of his time in Indiana through his stay in Toronto was hitting 75% - 80%.  

Not that I particularly trust him to hit *clutch* free throws, but I don't trust Perk to even catch iron when the pressure's on.  

Just another option for another big defender besides KG, in close games he's a guy that's not a TOTAL liability in they-need-to-foul-us situations.

And finishing.  While he isn't what he was, he can finish in traffic better than Perkins, BBD, Wallace, and maybe even KG.  He won't be doing any of that stupid dribbling that Perk loves to do before he goes up for an open dunk (which gets him blocked). 

[moiso]

All you JO haters out there who would you rather have? Shaq, Brad Miller?

Be realistic with what we have to work with. J. O'Neal is a great addition for some of the MLE.

Some people would complain if they got LJ for MLE so you have to understand that.

They guy averaged 14/7 last year.  If we even get that out of him he's an upgrade over our starter from last year.  I'll be quite happy if DA can get him in here.

Offensively he'd be an upgrade if we get 14 and 7 out of him.  He is definitely not an upgrade on the defensive end though and rebounding.

Along with that he wouldn't be averaging 14 points on our squad because he would be the fifth option.

I think you may be underrating J.O.'s defense.  He's an above average defensive player, and he has the length to block and change shots.  He's also an okay rebounder, and certainly better than Brad Miller.

He's not a better defender and upgrade than Perk period end of discussion.

As noted, this is irrelevant.

There is one area that JO *is* a lot better than Perk, though, and why he could be on the floor at the end of a few fourth quarters.  Perk hit 58% of his free throws last year; JO hit 72% last year, and in the latter part of his time in Indiana through his stay in Toronto was hitting 75% - 80%.  

Not that I particularly trust him to hit *clutch* free throws, but I don't trust Perk to even catch iron when the pressure's on.  

Just another option for another big defender besides KG, in close games he's a guy that's not a TOTAL liability in they-need-to-foul-us situations.

And finishing.  While he isn't what he was, he can finish in traffic better than Perkins, BBD, Wallace, and maybe even KG.  He won't be doing any of that stupid dribbling that Perk loves to do before he goes up for an open dunk (which gets him blocked). 

Better than Davis but I'm not sure about the other guys.  ONeal seems to get nervous when he is challenged.

[guava_wrench]

There is no way JO is putting up 14 and 7 next year.  Not on the Celtics, or any other team.

If he is healthy, why not?

He is a great bench player. If he starts in Perk's absence, he is our 5th option! He was #2 or #3 with the Heat, depending upon where you put Beasley.

He will also not be earning 20 million. We need to be able to evaluate a player's ability apart from their paycheck. He still has plenty of ability. He was a disappointment last year because he was so overpaid.

[Brendan]

I think this is one team where he's likely to embrace the role of defender, rebounder, and 5th option. The big three starters are all guys he should have no trouble playing off of, and Rondo is at a point now that a Sheed or JO defers to him anyways. He's probably not a better offensive player than Sheed - but I expect he'll do a better job staying near the hoop, play better D, and give better effort. He's only going to give you 70 games though -- but he should be able to get more rest once Perk is back anyways. Perk may not be ready to start right away, so JO could end up staying the starter.

If we can bring in Kwame too, all the better. Means we could trade one of the bigs during the season if an opportunity to improve arises.

JO / Kwame
KG / Baby
Pierce / Tony
Allen / AB
Rondo / Nate

Still need to consolidate those wing players into better talent - come on ATL give us Marvin Williams. You know you can't pay him now that you signed JJ.

[Timdawgg]

Bring me both Jermaine AND Shaq!

(We'd have 2 O'Neal's and 2 Allen's )

I would rather have the 2 millers Mike & Brad

[Mike-Dub]

http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA

Jermaine O'Neal has agreed to sign with the Boston Celtics, a league source tells Y! Sports.

This from Adrian Wojnarowski's twitter.  Not sure how I feel about this, depends on the price.

[jdpapa3]

Really like this choice.

[Rich]

JO signs according to Woj on Twitter:

 WojYahooNBA
 
Jermaine O'Neal has agreed to sign with the Boston Celtics, a league source tells Y! Sports.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm happy with this.  I'll be happier if we still have a chunk of the MLE left.

[Mike-Dub]

I'm happy with this.  I'll be happier if we still have a chunk of the MLE left.

Or somehow the whole.  Lol that would be great, but it's a pipe dream.

[Rashi]

I'm happy with this.  I'll be happier if we still have a chunk of the MLE left.

+ 1

[Evantime34]

IF it was the full MLE I'm OK with it. The happiness I derive from this deal is inversely proportional to how much money he is making.