Yesterday, the Pacers shipped out Jermaine O'neal. Who just happened to be their best player and in return they received T.J. Ford a fifth year PG out of Texas, C Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert (the 17th pick overall) and a player to be named later. This trade benefits both sides, but not equally.

The Pacers get a reserve PG in Ford, Nesterovic, Hibbert an inexperienced rookie and the always irrelevent player to be named later. Clearly in terms of player quality they lost out. But, where they succeeded was in getting rid of a major team distraction. There is something to be said about the quality of player that O'neal was traded for. Fact of the matter is these four guys can not play the one position and have the same effect on the court.

The Raptors won in terms of player quality. They got an All Star F to pair with Chris Bosh. Granted, he only played in 42 of 82 games last season. But, he is still a force to be reckoned with. To say that his career is in its denomet is premature. He was unhappy in Indy and I'm certain that he would have played more if he was happy.