Pacers' move for O'Neal might pay off-in 2003

Sporting News, The, Sept 11, 2000 by Dave D'Alessandro

It was exactly a year and a month ago when I made a rather large intuitive leap and concluded that Donnie Walsh was loopy. We both had a good chuckle over that in the interim, and he laughed last. But when the Indiana president traded away Antonio Davis--merely the best big man reserve in the league at the time--for an 18-year-old that Walsh admitted wasn't ready to play, this didn't strike anyone as the kind of move one would make to ensure job security.

It came at the precise moment in Pacers' history when they were poised to challenge for the title, and you already know how it turned out. Jonathan Bender, the aforementioned not-ready-for-prime-time player, watched most of the 100-something games the Pacers played. Davis' departure created more time for Austin Croshere, more space for Jalen Rose and more responsibility for Dale Davis, who became an All-Star. They still couldn't rebound, but the chemistry and team speed actually improved.

So there goes Donnie again, trading away the last remaining Davis last week, which tells you one of three things:

* Dale became more insufferable than ever over money issues (which is partially true);

* Walsh thinks lightning can strike twice (a bold notion indeed);

* The Pacers we have come to know and appreciate of late are, alas, history.

That latter theory fits best, because there are enough bodies flying out the door to support it. Larry Bird left the heartland, probably to find a team he can buy and call his own. Mark Jackson took Toronto's money and split, claiming a one-year, $7 million offer to a 35-year-old platooner was somehow insulting. Rik Smits is a week or two from deciding whether he wants to give it another go on a 34-year-old body that feels 54. Isiah Thomas arrived and immediately announced that it's Jalen's ball now, and while we'd all love to see it work, it's hard to envision instant success for a 6-8 point guard who really only sees half the floor.

The old gang isn't what it used to be. But sometimes, you have to move on. Hence, Dale Davis, AllStar, age 31, was traded for the erstwhile Portland spectator known aS Jermaine O'Neal, age 21.

"We're not rebuilding--we're renovating," explains Walsh, who calls O'Neal a "diamond in the rough," and opines that not many people know how good he is.

True enough, but everybody knows how good Davis is. On a weak rebounding team, one that didn't have a rebounding center, he grabbed 9.9 per game, and his growth even recently haS been extraordinary. O'Neal haS been a little-used insurance policy for four seasons, an athletic and versatile kid who still is growing--he's up to 6-11,240--with some potential as a starting-quality center.

If Smits quits, O'Neal will be force-fed the job, if only because a Sam Perkins-Zan TabakJoe Kleine tag team doesn't exactly stir passions. But that's a crisis for another time. There already is plenty of risk, because there is no way of knowing what O'Neal can do. Even Portland coach Mike Dunleavy can only say that O'Neal is undeniably talented and needs to play--a lot--and he agrees it's high time someone gave O'Neal the chance after being a bench ornament for four difficult seasons.

O'Neal thinks he's ready to play, as do Walsh and ThomaS, and he should be able to hold his own as the starting power forward. At the very least, O'Neal will be the shot-blocker the Pacers never had.

That's a favorable change. But sometimes a team can change too much. Sometimes, with retirement and free-agent departures, it haS no choice. Walsh had a choice with this latest move. His reasoning: "The fact is, this team has been in transition, basically starting last year, and maybe before that," he says.

For now, however, the power rotation is unrecognizable. It may consist of Austin Croshere, the old man at 25, O'Neal, Al Harrington (20), Bender (19) and Jeff Foster (23). Three never even went to college.

"This kid (O'Neal) has a chance to be a special player in the right system," Walsh says. "But when you trade a proven player like Dale, these am all legitimate questions to ask."

They all were asked last year, and the responses came immediately. This time, you wonder whether the answers have to wait until 2003.

Dave D'Alessandro covers the NBA for the Newark (NJ.) Star-Ledger. E-mail him at daved@sportingnews.com.

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