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.
source

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.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

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