Jermaine O'Neal will be heading to the Bay Area to join the Golden State Warriors, ESPN's Marc Stein reports:https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/354669127899693057
Chris Haynes of CSNNW reports that the deal is worth $2 million for one season:
https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/354672326966657024
This will be O'Neal's seventh team in his NBA career behind the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and most recently, the Phoenix Suns.
In his last season with the Suns, O'Neal posted decent stats, averaging about eight points, five rebounds, and a block per game coming off the bench. This proves that he can still play at the high quality level for his age, along with being able to overcome the injuries he has suffered over the past few years.
This offseason, O'Neal had received interest from multiple teams, including the Blazers, the team that drafted him with the 17th overall pick in the 1996 draft.
The biggest knock on O'Neal is that he can't always stay healthy. His two seasons with Boston were injury-riddled. However, in his last season with Phoenix, he only missed 27 games. Most of those weren't because of his own personal injuries, but because of him attending to important family matters.
The O'Neal signing is one I find very beneficial for the Warriors.
He will more than likely come off the bench as a backup either to power forward David Lee or center Andrew Bogut. The signing will also provide a plan B, just in case Bogut, who is injury-prone, gets hurt again. With Lee coming off a hip injury, O'Neal will help ease him back into his normal minutes.
