First Real NBA Draft Deal: Indy’s O’Neal to Toronto
NBA June 25th. 2008, 8:42pm
The fun has begun! Back from the grocery store and a few errands and wowsers, Yahoo breaks the news that Jermaine O’Neal has been dealt to Toronto for TJ Ford and the 17th pick in the draft. (Larry Bird never was a good liar.) The knee-jerk reaction is to say that Toronto comes out of this one on top, and not just because Bryan Colangelo was behind this deal. But a healthy Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Bosh up front? Nice. The backcourt trio of Calderon, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino will scare nobody, though.
Indiana now has two point guards, neither of which shoots particularly well. But the Pacers also have two picks in the top 17 (maybe they’ll still take Roy Hibbert!). Everyone rest up, for tomorrow should be a blast. There’s the Norman Chad chat at noon, and we’ll be all over the NBA draft well into the night. We suggest picking up some brews on the lunch break.
21 Responses to “First Real NBA Draft Deal: Indy’s O’Neal to Toronto”
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June 25th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Calderon and Parker are both very solid.
I agree Delfino ain’t much.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Errands = dumbbell curls
June 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
A healthy Jermaine O’Neal? Toronto have some kind of miracle witch doctor we haven’t heard about?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
That should probably read Bryan Colangelo, right.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
As one of the only Pacers fan’s left on planet Earth, I’d actually like to think that somehow the Pacers made out better in this trade than they did in the Dunleavy/Murphy for Jackson/Harrington debacle.
They got three of the three things a rebuilding team looks for in a trade
1) Expiring Deal (STEVEN A CANNOT STAND RASHO!)
2) Cap Space for second and third years (Nesterovic off the books this year)
3) Draft pick, albeit a number 17.
Pacers now have 3 picks in this draft, and hopefully Bird doesn’t screw this one up.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Don’t forget 4) Cap room
June 25th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
dont forget 5) redundancy.
dumbass.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
yes, Bryan, thanks man
hat tip on the post goes to BobbyBeingManny, and yes, the Pacers can do themselves a solid here by making two nice picks in the top 17. need some time to look people up, but it’s gotta be a big man and best on baord, right?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
when was the last nice pick larry bird made? danny granger, awesome.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I’ll go apeshit, literally, if they take some goofy stiff like Koufus or Lopez. I’d much rather have Hibbert.
Watched Koufus play this year against DJ White @ IU this year. He was the most unimpressive person on OSU, and I think he led all scorers that game. Way too soft.
I’d love to see Hibbert or Arthur, if still available.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
BBM – Koufus was only a freshman though .. i saw him at the end of the NIT and he looked awesome (thought it was against an A10 team,i think – Mass?)
June 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hibbert’s a solid pick there. What about DeAndre Jordan? Is everyone really down on him now?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Koufos looked very impressive early on, but my opinion of him declined as the season went on. I told a OSU friend of mine early in the year that this kid is a stud…not so sure now.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
koufos has been killin’ it at all the camps according to a bunch of scouts.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Koufos turned into the black hole about 5 games into the season. He had a great start (his domination against the Cuse in MSG was impressive), then the lull came, then he turned it on during OSU’s
memorablerun through theNCAANIT tournament.Worst rebounder ever for a 7-footer though.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Oh, the Kosta Koufos Experience. He was so bad throughout the season that OSU 1) missed the NCAAs and 2) got our hopes up that he’d be back and tougher next year. Then he becomes a stud in the NIT and goes pro. That’s second only to the Daequon Cook Experience, where I was actually happy to see a first round NBA draft pick leave after a year.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
So make it 2 Pacers fans left. I also like Hibbert, he played in the Princeton offense at G’town and I think it matches well with O’Brien’s running and three point shooting off of picks.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
it’s OK…OSU football is loaded for the next decade. january’s will suck, but at least they’ll beat Michigan. who cares about college basketball anyways?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:35 am
I would have watched Koufos play this season but my TV breaks every time Big 10 basketball comes on.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:39 am
If you think that Hibbert isn’t soft you’re kidding yourself. I;m not saying that he’s a bad draft pick, but his game still needs a lot of work to succeed in the NBA. IMO, his best attribute is passing right now. His scoring ability was good for college but not tuned for the NBA right now. He passes on too many good looks because he doesn’t like to “bang” down low.
The Pacers may be better served to take someone like Randolph because, IMO he has more potential.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Speaking as someone who watched the Davidson/Georgetown game in person, I lol’d at this statement.