Living in Indiana, it hasn’t been a secret that for the last four or more years Jermaine O’Neal, has been phoning in his play, and that the All-Star center wanted to relocate to L.A. or New York.
Despite his lackluster and injury-shortened 2007-2008 seasons, Pacers fans do remember that J.O. was the best center in the East for several years.
At only 30, it seems that O’Neal could bring that former excellence with him as he travels north of the border.
Jermaine may not have been sent to his ideal city, but the Raptors look to potentially have one of the best frontcourts in the NBA.
O’Neal will join All-Star, Chris Bosh, and former No. 1 overall draft pick, Andrea Bargnani, to complete a forward/center trio that includes no one shorter than 6′10″.
While height isn’t everything, these players’ collective talents are.
Bosh has developed into a near-clone of what O’Neal was in his Pacer prime and is considered by most to be one of the premier big men in the Eastern Conference behind Kevin Garnett and possibly Dwight Howard.
His numbers from last year look a little something like this: 22.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.6 APG.
He’s been putting up these same numbers for the last three years, and he is at the top of his game physically and mentally.
Bargnani is somewhat of the wild card here, aside from O’Neal’s passion for the game and his new city.
He’s put up just 10.8 PPG/3.8 RPG in his two seasons. However, even with Bargnani as the weak spot, this starting trio could be churning out 50+/20+ nightly.
This stacks up with league leaders.
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