JULY 23RD: The Warriors have officially signed O'Neal, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 9TH: Free agent big man Jermaine O'Neal will sign with the Warriors on a one-year deal, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (Twitter links). We had heard over the weekend that Golden State had interest in the Arn Tellem client, and that he was expected to make a decision soon.
The agreement with O'Neal is the latest move in a busy week for the Warriors. In addition to coming to terms with O'Neal, Golden State agreed to sign Andre Iguodala, Toney Douglas, and Marreese Speights, and will send $24MM+ in expiring contracts to the Jazz.
According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter), O'Neal's contract will be worth $2MM, which exceeds the minimum salary for a veteran with his experience. That means Golden State will either be signing O'Neal using the bi-annual exception or part of the mid-level exception. A sign-and-trade is also a possibility, but appears much less likely.
O'Neal, 34, has had problems staying on the court throughout his NBA career, but was productive in the games he played for the Suns last year. In 55 contests (18.7 MPG), O'Neal averaged 8.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG to go along with a 16.7 PER.
As long as there’s a space to fill, guys like Jermaine O’Neal and Kwame Brown will keep getting work.
Good for him. I wish suns would have brought him back for a second year. It’s just sad that old broken vets come here for our medical staff to give their declining careers a little more life.
Jimmy, Your statement is absolutely on correct. It seems like the Suns training staff is constantly being asked to RETREAD a set of OLD worn tires… (Shaq, Michael Red, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Jermaine O’Neal, Antonio McDyess, Kirk Thomas, etc). You might even be able to throw Nash into that group during his last year here. Why is phoenix always sifting through the dust bin for some sort DIY project? (Eric Beasley, Josh Childres, Stephan Marbury, Hedo Turkoglu, Nikoloz Tskitishvili ) BUMS!!!! all of them.
Retreads and Bumbs….and an occational young hustle player without great basketball skills (Lou Amondson, PJ Tucker, Zabian Dowdell)
It’s so frustrating that we never seem to get a standout YOUNG player. Goran Dragich is the closest thing we’ve had to that since…..hmmmm Amare Stoudemire……who probably really misses the Suns training staff while he rides the pine watching yet another “Mello” isolation play. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Suns brought him back after his big money contract expires in New York.
I like Louis Scola and think Gortat can be solid if he stops whining. At the end of the day, these guys are ROLE players. We need an “A PLAYER” on this team.
I’m a former season ticket holder and have watched 98% of all their games over the last 12 years. The last year was too painful for me to stomach. I stopped watching. I can watch and root for a team that plays hard and looses. Last year’s team was pathetic and lethargic except for PJ Tucker….my current favorite player.
God Help us!
Completely agree. I was a fan of dowdell. I also loved the earl Clark era. They could have gave him more minutes and could have helped polish him into a strong back up to starting sf. At least with grant and Nash we got some solid years from them with some exciting playoff runs. Oh well. Maybe before the year 2020 suns will have 20/20 vision on the playoffs and a title.
First and foremost, the NBA is a business. I’m sure all the teams would like to make the playoffs and win a championship. But for most teams I think it’s about spending as little as possible and maximizing profits as much as possible. Bargain players with potential upside will still make the franchise and the NBA $$$.
A few years ago the financial records for the Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) was leaked and it showed how big of a profit the franchise made. At the time the Pirates were not a good team and the fans were pissed to find out the ownership had the $$$ to afford better talent.