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If Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal has his way, he'll be the help Kobe Bryant is clamoring for with the Lakers.
It's time for me to move on. And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to.
Jermaine O'Neal
"It's time for me to move on," O'Neal said Sunday at Baron Davis' and Paul Pierce's annual L.A. Stars charity basketball game at USC's Galen Center. "And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to."
O'Neal said he doesn't want to be part of a rebuilding project with the Lakers. He said if a trade to the Lakers doesn't work out, he'd also welcome a deal to the Nets.
"I love Indiana and the fans and we have a lot of nice young talent but obviously they're in a situation now where they're rebuilding," O'Neal said. "I told them I can't be in a rebuilding mode right now. I'm at a point in my career where I can't wait another five years to contend. I'm not in a position physically to take in five years of losses and downtime."
O'Neal has been the subject of trade talk since the Pacers (35-47) missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
O'Neal said the Pacers have been unreasonable in their trade talks with the Lakers.
"Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with," O'Neal said. "He tries to make unfair trades. He wants to gut a team, but the Lakers are trying to get over the hump. I want Indiana to benefit, but with some nice young players and draft picks. I want to make it clear that I don't want to gut a team that I come to because then it'll be like I'm in Indiana all over again.
"If things don't work, I have an option in my contract next year and I will opt out and become a free agent."
Bird, the Pacers' president, didn't rule out the possibility of a deal.
"In response to Jermaine O'Neal's published comments today regarding a trade, we have stated repeatedly that if we can make our team better through a trade, we will do so," Bird said in a team statement. "Jermaine has become an All-Star player with the Indiana Pacers and in any discussions regarding him or any of our other players, the expectations for the franchise and our fans is to receive fair market value in return if a trade is to be considered.
"Jermaine has worked out very hard this summer while rehabilitating his knee after surgery. We believe under Jim O'Brien that our team as a whole and Jermaine as a player can be successful. You never know what will happen, but for now Jermaine is an Indiana Pacer."
O'Neal averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in one of the best seasons of his 11-year career, but he's the team's top commodity if the Pacers choose to rebuild.
"Me and Kobe have talked a lot this summer about getting me here," O'Neal says. "We've been on each other since we were 15, playing AAU basketball, adidas All-American Camp, Nike All-American Camp. It's been a long relationship. We've been trying to make this happen all summer. He understands the desire that I have right now. Mentally, we're on the same page. "Kobe's in a position right now where he knows he needs some help. He's the world's best player, and he's got a good group of guys around him, but he needs somebody to come in there and give him some support. He knows I want to get back onto the court and prove the naysayers wrong.
"If I'm here, I'm going to help this team win a championship. We can get the Lakers to elite level," O'Neal believes, adding that his recent surgery to repair a torn meniscus will have him at one hundred percent for the first time in two years. "People need to realize that my last two years weren't down-years. I didn't go into the last two seasons healthy at all. I'm healthy now and, at 28, I'm in my prime. The game is slowing down for me. I understand it a lot more. I'm ready to show people what I can do."
It's time for me to move on. And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to.
Jermaine O'Neal
"It's time for me to move on," O'Neal said Sunday at Baron Davis' and Paul Pierce's annual L.A. Stars charity basketball game at USC's Galen Center. "And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to."
O'Neal said he doesn't want to be part of a rebuilding project with the Lakers. He said if a trade to the Lakers doesn't work out, he'd also welcome a deal to the Nets.
"I love Indiana and the fans and we have a lot of nice young talent but obviously they're in a situation now where they're rebuilding," O'Neal said. "I told them I can't be in a rebuilding mode right now. I'm at a point in my career where I can't wait another five years to contend. I'm not in a position physically to take in five years of losses and downtime."
O'Neal has been the subject of trade talk since the Pacers (35-47) missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
O'Neal said the Pacers have been unreasonable in their trade talks with the Lakers.
"Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with," O'Neal said. "He tries to make unfair trades. He wants to gut a team, but the Lakers are trying to get over the hump. I want Indiana to benefit, but with some nice young players and draft picks. I want to make it clear that I don't want to gut a team that I come to because then it'll be like I'm in Indiana all over again.
"If things don't work, I have an option in my contract next year and I will opt out and become a free agent."
Bird, the Pacers' president, didn't rule out the possibility of a deal.
"In response to Jermaine O'Neal's published comments today regarding a trade, we have stated repeatedly that if we can make our team better through a trade, we will do so," Bird said in a team statement. "Jermaine has become an All-Star player with the Indiana Pacers and in any discussions regarding him or any of our other players, the expectations for the franchise and our fans is to receive fair market value in return if a trade is to be considered.
"Jermaine has worked out very hard this summer while rehabilitating his knee after surgery. We believe under Jim O'Brien that our team as a whole and Jermaine as a player can be successful. You never know what will happen, but for now Jermaine is an Indiana Pacer."
O'Neal averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in one of the best seasons of his 11-year career, but he's the team's top commodity if the Pacers choose to rebuild.
"Me and Kobe have talked a lot this summer about getting me here," O'Neal says. "We've been on each other since we were 15, playing AAU basketball, adidas All-American Camp, Nike All-American Camp. It's been a long relationship. We've been trying to make this happen all summer. He understands the desire that I have right now. Mentally, we're on the same page. "Kobe's in a position right now where he knows he needs some help. He's the world's best player, and he's got a good group of guys around him, but he needs somebody to come in there and give him some support. He knows I want to get back onto the court and prove the naysayers wrong.
"If I'm here, I'm going to help this team win a championship. We can get the Lakers to elite level," O'Neal believes, adding that his recent surgery to repair a torn meniscus will have him at one hundred percent for the first time in two years. "People need to realize that my last two years weren't down-years. I didn't go into the last two seasons healthy at all. I'm healthy now and, at 28, I'm in my prime. The game is slowing down for me. I understand it a lot more. I'm ready to show people what I can do."
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