We have our first big trade of the draft season.  The Pacers will send talented but oft-injured big man Jermaine O’Neal to the Raptors for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and the 17^th pick in the draft.  Another veteran will be thrown in by Toronto to make the deal work (likely Maceo Baston).  The trade can’t be consummated until July 9 because of the NBA’s complicated salary cap rules so it is possible something could happen or the deal could expand, but that doesn’t seem likely 

I like this trade (provided it goes down of course) for both teams.  First, the Pacers. Indiana rids themselves of O’Neal’s contract.  The center is owed $44 million over the next two seasons, and now his old team can begin the rebuilding process in earnest.  Ford has injury concerns of his own, but when he plays he is very productive and he takes over the point guard spot.  Larry Bird is now free to get rid of Jamaal Tinsley who is the last link to the early 2000s era checkered with questionable characters.  Indiana can also now pick the best available players at both 11 and 17.  They had previously been targeting Texas guard D.J. Augustin, but they obviously no longer need to find a point.  With plenty of turmoil going on in the draft order it seems likely a premium talent could drop to them at both spots.  Nesterovic and Baston both have expiring contracts as well freeing up plenty of cap space for 2009.

The Raptors are making a bit of a gamble here considering the health of O’Neal, but if he stays on the court it will pay off big-time.  The trade will allow Chris Bosh to stay almost exclusively at power forward, his more natural position.  O’Neal also gives the Raptors a tough rebounder and fantastic interior defender shoring up two former weaknesses.  Trading Ford also frees up the point guard position exclusively for Jose Calderon.  I wrote earlier in the year about how good Calderon is, and that he is a better option than Ford.  The two point guards could not play together either so trading one was the only real option.

The big loser in this situation is former number one overall pick Andrea Bargnani.  The forward has shown some flashes, but has proven to be a soft player, and unlikely to live up to the hype.  He has not been able to be an adequate partner for Bosh, and now he will lose minutes.  Bargnani will probably now be a back-up at all three frontcourt spots.  Who knows, maybe this will motivate him and drive him to get better which would be an added bonus for Toronto.

Both teams benefit in this situation, and is the kind of logical trade that doesn’t happen often enough in professional sports.