Jermaine O'Neal, We Hardly Knew Ye (And Thank God For That)

I still remember the day that the Raptors acquired Jermaine. I was floating in the waves with some friends on a sunny summer day. The warmth and breeze combined with freinds on a long weekend made for an ideal time. Then one of my friends started running from the beach. Pushing through the breakers to try to get out to us, screaming "You won't believe it! You won't believe it!" As he pushed through the waves, I thought something monumental had happened. At the time, all that mattered to me was that TJ Ford was finally gone. No more crunch time ridiculous shots. No more looking at an average PG who thought he was a superstar. Contentment and joy fell upon me. What I thought had been a perfect weekend truly became a perfect weekend.

As the days wore on, and I started thinking about the trade from a pure basketball perspective, a sense of dread came upon me. We had Bosh manning one big spot, and in theory we were supposed to have a talent in Bargnani at the other spot, though I was certainly unsure as to whether Bargnani would fulfill his possible potential.

While not technically "old" at the time of acquisition, Jermaine had a lot of miles on this legs. He falls into a select group of high schoolers drafted at the age of 17. A lot of miles had been put on his incredibly shaky knees. Anytime a Center has put 10+ years in the league, it's time to get critical. Especially when they have suffered consistent injuries.

Back and forth I went, contemplating, weighing his poor performance, bad shot selection, and injuries against... well, I'm still not sure what I weighed it against. I think it was merely hope. Hope that the Raptors could form some sort of twin towers scenario, Jermaine could drop 8 years, and we'd be a dominant force in the East.

Well, you know how things went. Jermaine remained a big ball of suck. His knees continued to ache at the smallest touch. His headband continued to be flung into the stands in disgust.  In the end, we had to take on Marcus Banks' ridiculous salary, and give away another 1'st round pick for the Jermaine O'Neal experiment.

5 months of bad play and excuses cost the Raptors 2 1'st round picks. (The TJ vs. Marcus Banks contracts cancel out. Shawn Marions expiring contract almost matches the expiring the Raptors sent to Indiana).

The everlasting image of Jermaine O'Neal is going to be a 14 foot fade away jumper clanking off the front of the rim. Fans in Miami are enjoying it right now. Thankfully for them, they can focus on Wade, and do their best to pretend that there is no one else on the court.

Jermaine O'Neal, when all is said and done, you've really only done one thing right in your career. You put that Pistons fan down on the ground like he deserved. You've got a good right hook. I can appreciate that.