Heat Trading for Raptor's O'Neal Persist

The red-hot rumor about the Heat acquiring Toronto center/forward Jermaine O'Neal has cooled to a smoldering ember.

Heat President Pat Riley said last month that speculation regarding O'Neal was premature, but that the question around the league is whether O'Neal, who is playing on creaky knees in his 13th season, can again be dominant inside .

"I think he can be; he had the mind-set when he was younger and hungry," said NBA veteran Sam Perkins, an executive with the Indiana Pacers, who traded O'Neal before this season. "But he has to be hungry again."

And he has to be healthy. Already this season O'Neal, 30, has missed 14 games because of his left knee. He had surgery to repair cartilage damage in summer 2007 and missed 39 games last season, including 33 in a row because of a bone bruise.

"It seems to be flaring up again," Coach Jim O'Brien of the Pacers said. "If he's healthy he's a hell of a player."

Even if he isn't completely healthy, O'Neal -- a 6-11, six-time All-Star -- could be worth the risk, Indiana forward Troy Murphy said.

"The way he scores and rebounds and blocks shots, it could be something that could really help a team like the Heat," Murphy said.

O'Neal is an accomplished scorer and rebounder with career averages of 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds. This season he is averaging 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds.

O'Neal has been rumored to be the centerpiece of a trade that would send him to the Heat for forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks. The trade deadline is Feb. 19.

The Heat would want O'Neal's low-post presence to anchor an inside-out offense fueled by All-Star guard Dwyane Wade.

O'Neal is to be paid $23 million in 2009-10, the last year of his contract. The team that has him next season could let his contract expire and thus gain salary-cap room to help shop for a high-profile free agent in the 2010 class that is expected to include such stars as Toronto's Chris Bosh and Cleveland's LeBron James.

If Miami made the rumored trade, it would get proven NBA talent in exchange for Marion's expiring $17.8 million contract. The Heat also would erase Banks' $4 million-a-year contract, which runs through the 2010-11 season.

It was only seven months ago that O'Neal was traded to the Raptors for guard T.J. Ford and center Rasho Nesterovic. Toronto's idea was to team O'Neal and Bosh for a potent 1-2 punch in the low post. But the experiment failed -- their talents have not meshed -- and the Raptors are 19-31.

"He has to realize now he's with an All-Star and he has to maybe play a supporting role," Perkins said of O'Neal.

Riley is candid about his desire for a low-post presence, and it's possible that O'Neal still could fill the bill.

"I know his heart," said former NBA coach and player Quinn Buckner, a longtime Pacers TV analyst, "and he's very interested in getting back to the Jermaine O'Neal of old." The Palm Beach Post