O'Neal Hopes For Al Harrington Or Bonzi Wells
15th December, 2005 - 5:59 am
Boston Globe - Jermaine O'Neal feels betrayed. The cocaptain of the Indiana Pacers feels tired. He said that having to deal with the latest, and he hopes last, Ron Artest flap has been ''like a slap in the face" because no one had Artest's back more than he did.

Whether it was tolerating Artest's daily zaniness or coming to his defense in the utter chaos of Nov. 19, 2004, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, ''I was the guy who stood up for him. I was the guy who vouched for him," O'Neal said in a lengthy discourse on Artest's absence and Artest's trade demand prior to last night's 85-71 loss to the Celtics.

''I don't hate him as a person. I wish him the best of luck," O'Neal said. ''I hope he achieves what he wants elsewhere. But as a player who has been there for him and been involved in certain situations with him, and for him, you expect more. But life isn't about getting what you want. Sometimes you have to deal with harder situations. This is harder to accept. I accepted it. I lost a lot. I have stepped up and vouched for him. Ron Artest doesn't matter to me as a teammate."

O'Neal, the Pacers' leading scorer and rebounder (he had 14 points and 10 rebounds last night), and best and highest-paid player, pesaid he has two people in mind who would be more than suitable replacements for Artest: former teammate Al Harrington, now with Atlanta, and Bonzi Wells, now with Sacramento. Artest was not with the Pacers last night and Indiana president Donnie Walsh is fielding calls about him. Something could break today, when most players, such as Wells, who signed deals or were traded over the summer, can be relocated.

Harrington would be a natural, O'Neal surmised, because of his familiarity with the system and the team. Harrington spent the first six years of his career with the Pacers before being traded to the Hawks in the summer of 2004 for Stephen Jackson. And, O'Neal added, ''If it doesn't work out this year, [his salary] comes off the books."

As for Wells, O'Neal said, ''He fits in with what we do. We have a defensive-oriented team. He's a 6-6, 6-7 body who can play two different positions and thinks defense first. You deal [for] a player like that, it's easy for him to fit in, rather than a player who thinks offense first or pass, pass, or [dribbles] between the legs. We're not that type of team. There's been a lot of talk about [Peja] Stojakovic and I would definitely accept him with open arms. But if I had a preference, it would Bonzi or Al.



"who thinks offense first or pass, pass, or [dribbles] between the legs"

I guess that removes Marbury from the list !!

sounds like Bonzi would've really helped the Knicks. there's a player Isiah should of concentrated his efforts on acquiring not Crawford, Jerome James

Posted by nyballer:

and we've already talked about why they'd want marbury.

yean but the Hawks have not. If they wanted Marbury, he'd be a Hawk.

Posted by nyballer:

I don't think isiah would've traded marbury for harrington, since he could leave and really isn't a top player on anything but a bad team, but it might be tough to turn down marbury for artest if it came up.

MArbury for Harrington and throw-ins would be great for the Knicks since it would get them serious cap relief and give us the flexibility we need to get under the cap after 2007, a year from now. But the Hawks have to be stupid to take on Marbury and his contract

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 12-15-2005 8:20 PM]