OT: Why would Toronto trade for J. O'Neal?

[Gomes3PC]

Ray Allen has played in 78, 78, 55, and 73 games since 04-05. What exactly makes you believe Allen is going to 'fall apart?" He wasn't banged up during the playoffs. In fact, he only got better as the playoffs went on. The guy is also a conditioning FREAK. He's probably in better shape than any other player on the Celtics.

If there's a starter likely to break down, it's Perkins. He reinjured that shoulder of his in the Finals, which is the 3rd (I think) time he's done that. He's just not a durable player.

As far as the JO to Toronto trade goes, I can't complain. This draft isn't that deep, and while they could've gotten a player to help out, nobody in the 15+ range of this draft will ever become Jermaine O'Neal. Ford is an even bigger injury risk and dead weight. Nesterovich is just dead weight.

Hopefully (for TOR fans) the Raptors are smart and use a judicious rotation between Bosh, JO, and Bargnani. Let Bosh play his 38-40 MPG, but play JO only about 30-32. That'd give Bargnani about 24-28 MPG as the backup, which sounds pathetic as a former #1 pick, but until he proves otherwise that's what he deserves. The key is you don't want Jermaine breaking down, since that would basically ruin the trade. Playing all 3 together is a nonoption, unless you play a team like LA with Pau/Bynum/Odom, which is about the only combo they'd work against. In fact, Bosh would probably do better against a SF than Bargnani from what I've seen of their relative foot speeds.

O'Neal has the ability to play in the low post. His eFG in the paint last year was 65% and was as high as 66% as recent as 05-06. I think even if the Raptors get the JO of 06-07 they'll do okay, despite the bloated salary. 19 points, 10 boards, 2.5 blocks, and very interior D is nothing to sneeze at, even if you only get 70 games out of him. Baby him, make him 100% for the playoff run, and then start to expand his minutes.

As for Indiana, I don't know what they are thinking. They did not shed Tinsley yet, meaning they have huge money tied up with him and Ford for two very mediocre PGs. Ford is terrible on D and the biggest injury risk in the NBA. He also has no outside shot, which hurts the offensive flow of a team. They also have absolutely nothing in the paint now, and lost a $20m salary coming off the books next year to open cap space. They got an average PG, a crappy center, and a non-lotto pick in a crappy draft. Ouch. Even if Joey Graham comes over, they have Granger and Dunleavy locked in, with Shawne Williams backing up.

One of the only bright spots that Indy might get out of this is freeing up time for Ike Diogu to start. Diogu and Leon Powe are like long-lost brothers- long-armed, undersized low-post PFs with a knack for scoring and rebounding, but are a bit of a defensive liability. Diogu had a PER over 17 last year but only got about 10 MPG; even if he got just 20-25 next year I think he'd impress a lot of Pacers fans. Or they can go out and get Marreese Speights, who IMO is nearly as NBA-ready to score and rebound as Al Horford was this year, perhaps even moreso in terms of scoring (but way less on D).

Grab Augustin at 11, trade Tinsley for whatever you can get, and then draft Speights at 17. At least then you'd have a pair of solid wings (Granger, Dunleavy), a young PG in Augustin to push Ford, and a potential 18 and 10 PF in Speights with a capable stopgap in Diogu. Now, if only they'd find a way to rid themselves of Troy Murphy...