Jermaine O’Neal is the one on the left. He is now a Toronto Raptor.

Image details: Indiana Pacers v Miami Heat served by picapp.com

This draft is full of so many equal players that trades may abound. As teams shore up their foundations before the draft.

Check out this latest one.

Pacers to Raptors

After on-and-off again negotiations, the Indiana Pacers have agreed in principle to send six-time All-Star Jermaine O’Neal to the Toronto Raptors for point guard T.J. Ford and the 17th pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, a league executive said Wednesday.
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How about this rumor?

Detroit and the Baron

A team source said that Davis has told teammates he will not exercise the opt-out provision in his contract before its June 30 expiration date, meaning that he will play out the final year of the deal at a salary of $17.8 million.
…
the source said Detroit is willing to divest itself of longtime stars Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups.

Wallace, like Davis an unrestricted free agent after ’08-09, would give the Warriors their best true power forward since Chris Webber’s first stint in 1993-94 and has 3-point range that coach Don Nelson would love.

And the inclusion of Billups, who has been made more expendable by the emergence of rookie Rodney Stuckey last season, would ease any concerns from Nelson about the point guard position.
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Golden State would have to include another player to balance out salaries. Al Harrington has been mentioned.

Can’t figure this one out. If your faith is in Stuckey, then what is Baron Davis for? Why give up Rasheed Wallace when he only has one year on his contract left and he is your only legit big guy? What is missing here?

Cleveland is Redd -y?

How about Michael Redd going to the Cleveland LeBron’s? Wow!

As always, trade rumors are rampant in the hours leading into the draft. The biggest one surrounding Cleveland involves Milwaukee shooting star Michael Redd, a player the Cavaliers pursued but couldn’t sign as a free agent a few seasons back.

Redd, who this week was named to the U.S. Olympic team along with Cavs All-Star LeBron James, could be had for the right price. He has three years and $51 million left on his contract, and Ferry would need to give up some key parts _ perhaps Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao _ along with some top picks to bring Redd to Cleveland.

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This would bring scoring to the Cav’s and don’t think the Bucks would get ripped. John Hammond is running that place now and he only wants toughness. The Bucks are trying to build a long term foundation.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

The Pistons were playing the Philadelphia 76ers in game 4 of the NBA Playoffs. All of the momentum was with the 76ers. They are a young team that does not know enough to fear the Pistons. Their coach, Mo Cheeks, has them believing in themselves. Their slogan is “Come Run With Us”.

And run they did, picking up every missed shot or loose ball by the Pistons and taking it the length of the court for the early lead in the game. At one point in the second quarter they led by 13. Things began to look bright for Philly and dismal for the Pistons.

This Piston team had been to the Conference Finals 5 years in a row. They are expected to play the Boston Celtics and Kevin Garnett for the Eastern Conference crown. They are not expected to lose to the 76ers.

Then halftime came. Coach Flip Saunders of the Pistons made an inspiring speech.

“I said, ‘Are we having fun yet?’ “Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.”Because we weren’t. I said, ‘Guys, right now, we’re playing really tight. We’re playing like we’re afraid to take a shot, we’re afraid to make a move.’

“When you’re playing like that and thinking too much, you’re going to make mistakes. I said, ‘Relax, settle down, we’re a good basketball team. Let’s get into some flow and go out there and have some fun.’ ”

They listened.
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The Pistons, led by Rasheed Wallace, came out and blew the 76ers away in the third quarter. There were very few loose balls, very few missed shots, and very few Philly offensive rebounds. Without all the turnovers and missed shots the game was reduced to a half court battle, the type of game that favors the Pistons. Suddenly the Pistons were chasing the loose balls and offensive rebounds.

Detroit woke up.

Billups, the Pistons’ starting point guard: “We were playing hard, but we weren’t playing that smart (in the first half). I think we were a little too excited. We wanted it a little too bad. At halftime, we just said, ‘Listen, settle down. Settle down. We’re going to get what we want. Slow down on offense and speed up on defense,’ and we did that.
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The series is tied 2 – 2, but the momentum has swung back to the Pistons and 2 out of the next 3 games are in Detroit.

During halftime, Chris Weber, former Piston, made the comment that Joe Dumars, the GM, will come down into the locker room at halftime and say something like, “Don’t know how ya’ll think you are doing, but you can be traded before this game is over”. It was funny, but Joe has shown himself to be no nonsense guy in running the franchise.

NBA Basketball special comment Detroit has started to play and when they do, they can impose their will on most teams.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed