JO Out Again ( Big Man Health) Update: JO Needs Surgery/ Semih injures groin

[Celtics18]

Once KG and Perk get healthy, our front court is one of the best in the league regardless of whether or not JO can play significant minutes. 

If those two don't come back healthy (KG, in particular, obviously), our title chances are going to be pretty slim, regardless of whether or not we bring back Rasheed Wallace or are able to miraculously trade J. O'Neal for a warm body.

So, sure, if Danny can work some magical deal that gets rid of JO and frees up a roster spot, I'm all for it, but to start suggesting things like cutting Erden or Harangody to make room for Rasheed, is craziness as far as I'm concerned.

[PosImpos]

Once KG and Perk get healthy, our front court is one of the best in the league regardless of whether or not JO can play significant minutes. 

If those two don't come back healthy (KG, in particular, obviously), our title chances are going to be pretty slim, regardless of whether or not we bring back Rasheed Wallace or are able to miraculously trade J. O'Neal for a warm body.

So, sure, if Danny can work some magical deal that gets rid of JO and frees up a roster spot, I'm all for it, but to start suggesting things like cutting Erden or Harangody to make room for Rasheed, is craziness as far as I'm concerned.

If Jermaine can't contribute anything, and Shaq continues to look way closer to 40 than 30, our front court rotation won't be any better than it was last year during the playoffs.  That won't cut it.

[Kuberski1]

New here, but read this site almost daily (post on CelticsGreen...).

I'm not quite ready to throw the towel in on this one yet, as there is still a lot of time between now and the playoffs.  JO could conceivably have minor surgery, and/or get a lot more rest.  A lot of guys play with bad knees and other body parts.  I'll admit it doesn't look good, but trying to remain hopeful - to boot, there's no way we can move him now.

Plus, assuming KG is healthy (if he's not, we're done, JO's health becomes moot), we will have Perk/Shaq at 5, KG/Baby at 4, with JO a possibility at 5/4.  Meaning he might not be needed to play every game, much like Doc swapped Powe and Baby back in '08.  If JO could play 12-15 games in the last 3 rounds of the playoffs, at maybe 15 mins or so, that just might be enough.

We need ET to come and zap JO's knee....

[2short]

Key to me is going to be Perk's rehab/health.  I fully believe with him and a not 100% KG last year we would have won game 7.  If perk can come back and play to his old level that leaves us shaq as backup center, 15 minutes a night.  Jermaine can do a Walton and play every other night, semih has proven he can contribute and we also have center material in kg and davis.  Thankfully this is our deepest posistion.  If we are going to cut anyone to bring 'sheed in? wouldn't in be bradley, both luke and semih have proven themselves to be nba players and are helping NOW (we are in the mindset win while "window" is open)

[Sizzlack]

Key to me is going to be Perk's rehab/health.  I fully believe with him and a not 100% KG last year we would have won game 7.  If perk can come back and play to his old level that leaves us shaq as backup center, 15 minutes a night.  Jermaine can do a Walton and play every other night, semih has proven he can contribute and we also have center material in kg and davis.  Thankfully this is our deepest posistion.  If we are going to cut anyone to bring 'sheed in? wouldn't in be bradley, both luke and semih have proven themselves to be nba players and are helping NOW (we are in the mindset win while "window" is open)

He doesn't even seem able to do that.

I mean, he takes 6 weeks off, puts on a new knee brace, comes out and plays what... five games? Not even big minutes (What'd he average, about 20 a game, if that?) and now the knee goes and swells up again?

It's not like he pushed it, not like he didn't take his time to get "healthy."

It's time to face the reality, JO is done, his body has given out on him. They won't say the word, but it seems pretty clear the knee is arthritic. We'll get little, if any out of him this year.

The being said, I doubt it will matter much, honestly even when JO was playing I've found myself wishing Semih was out there. Other than block some shots, JO hasn't brought much of anything to this team, even when he was out there.

JO can bring a lot to this team, but we'll be perfectly fine without him. Kudos to Danny for yet another 2nd round steal in Semih.

[nba is the worst]

The writing is on the wall - still can't believe he stole the full MLE from the Celtics

[mmbaby]

I read somewhere that JO says his knee hurts all the time and if that's true, it must be miserable for him.
When he's been on the floor, he's been great at blocking shots and I like his presence in the paint. I truly hope this is not permanent for him.

[Eja117]

The team to do a trade with is Cleveland. Pretty sure they'd be more than happy to do what it takes to ruin Lebron's year. Then they'd be like "Karma's a b****".

Varajao and Antoine Jamison.

Send over young guys, some cash, JO, and draft picks.

Get it done.

Varejao is out for the season...and Jamison has looked horrible so far.

Jamison is averaging 16 and 6. Not great shooting percentages, but still.

Jamison doesn't play defense at all. Hickson would be great...but they refused to trade him last year..when the Queen was on their roster and they were trying to appease her majesty...I don't think JO and fillers would make for a good bait.

Perhaps the major thing we'd be offering is revenge. That's gotta be worth something

[pearljammer10]

I could see Nazr Mohammed, Marcus Camby, and possibly Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor as possible trade targets

Based on what?

And what do we possibly have to trade for near  all star capable players such as Okafor and Kaman?

We dont even have the players to make  trade for a scrub like Nazr.

[Fafnir]

I could see Nazr Mohammed, Marcus Camby, and possibly Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor as possible trade targets

Based on what?

And what do we possibly have to trade for near  all star capable players such as Okafor and Kaman?

We dont even have the players to make  trade for a scrub like Nazr.

Clipper would trade Kaman in just a salary dump at this point. His play has fallen off tremendously.

[pearljammer10]

The writing is on the wall - still can't believe he stole the full MLE from the Celtics

I dont understand how this keeps coming up.... What other big man would you rather have signed to the MLE? ...Crickets....   Would you rather be paying a guy like Haywood 9 mil a year to be a third string center? Johan Petro and his 4 million a year would do wonders for our bench  

We got lucky that we picked up JO for the MLE. He was a 15 and 8 guy last year with 2 blocks a game. I think we in fact stole him from the rest of the league... Hopefully the med staff will be able to figure out this whole knee debacle. As long as he is healthy for the playoffs I dont think him missing regular season games is a huge deal.

[Finkelskyhook]

O'Neal looks like he made little attempt to get in shape to start the season.  He looks much heavier than last season and he looked heavier in his second season with the heat than he did in the first.  If he has bad knees, it would make sense that he'd work on being lighter.  

He's a professional athlete.  While not expecting him to be at the playing weight he was in his twenties....I would expect him to not be what appears to be 40-50lbs heavier, either.  The guy has about 5 chins.

I maintain he'll be in better shape in his contract year.

[pearljammer10]

I could see Nazr Mohammed, Marcus Camby, and possibly Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor as possible trade targets

Based on what?

And what do we possibly have to trade for near  all star capable players such as Okafor and Kaman?

We dont even have the players to make  trade for a scrub like Nazr.

Clipper would trade Kaman in just a salary dump at this point. His play has fallen off tremendously.

What? How so? He has only played 10 games this year due to injury, most of those games he was injured while he played... And last year he average 19 and 9... How is is his play have fallen off tremendously?

[Eja117]

I could see Nazr Mohammed, Marcus Camby, and possibly Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor as possible trade targets

Based on what?

And what do we possibly have to trade for near  all star capable players such as Okafor and Kaman?

We dont even have the players to make  trade for a scrub like Nazr.

I admit I haven't done my homework here.

Kaman seems a lot more expendable with Jordan and Griffin stepping up

Camby is old on a team that has no shot and was already the subject of trade rumors. Plus I guess he has a UMass connection.

Nazr is a guy that I'm not sure is well liked in Charlotte and can give us something. I seriously doubt the Bobcats would be like "You want Nazr? No way! He's untouchable"

The Hornets can't really afford to take any steps down or sideways with Chris Paul up for free agency so that probably won't work. Maybe if they knew CP3 was leaving.


There is no all-star out there. There is nobody tremendously better than Ehrden.  There's not.

Call Christian Laetner, Keith Van Horn, PJ Brown, and Karl Malone and give them physicals, but there is nobody out there that is available and is so great. We're talking about a 5th big man.

[vinnie]

Someone mentioned that they would rather see Semih on the court than JO. First, JO is a far better rebounder and 10 times the defender that Semih is, even plaing on one knee. And, if Semih has to play big minutes or even more than 5 minutes a game in the playoffs, then this team's chances are cooked.

It is unfair to expect Perk to be 100 percent until next season, and Shaq really does look like he is 50-years-old. I can't see how this team makes it to the finals without dealing with the JO situation. Figure out if the guy can play, and if he can't, they may have to cut him, eat his salary, and sign someone else who can play.