Marcus13

Phoenix Suns center Jermaine O'Neal and general manager Lance Blanks engaged in a blistering, expletive-laced confrontation in the coach's office on Monday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

"It was really bad," one Suns source said Tuesday afternoon.

The confrontation happened after interim coach Lindsey Hunter's first practice and unfolded within earshot of several Suns players in the locker room, sources said. Initially, O'Neal had expressed disappointment that his veteran stature hadn't dictated the front office turning to him for counsel in the recent coaching change, a league source told Y! Sports. When O'Neal kept challenging Blanks, the discussion started to become an argument and ultimately a screaming match.

It was immediately unclear what precipitated the disagreement, sources said, but there has been considerable unrest within the organization. At 13-28, the Suns have the worst record in the Western Conference.

The Arizona Republic reported Tuesday that O'Neal missed practice with an "unstated medical issue" and wouldn't make the team's trip to Sacramento.

http://nba.si.com/2013/01/22/jermain...indsey-hunter/

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Bogg

He's probably played well enough to net a second round pick or a marginal young guy. Might as well ship to a team that needs depth while you can. Portland may give a minimum guy and a pile of cash, which is sure to appeal to Sarver.

R-Star

Indy could be interested, but I'm not sure where he'd fit in the lineup really.

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Bogg

I don't know that he does anything for you that Hansbrough and Mahinmi don't already. I guess he's got a better fifteen-foot jumper. Depends on what Phoenix wants.

Pacers Fan

O'Neal, even at this stage in his career, is better at every facet of the game than Hansbrough, except the Joakim Noah-drive and drawing fouls. My only concern with trading for O'Neal is that he's probably too old to play the 4, and obviously Hibbert and Mahinmi aren't moving over. Most contenders should be willing to part with a 2nd round pick or a shitty youngster for JO, though. Boston and Miami again, and possibly the Spurs, Lakers, Warriors, and Blazers could be interested.

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Indeed.

Bogg

Not when it comes to playing the four. Jermaine's going to have serious problems defending any athletic forwards and won't get up and down the court as well as Hansbrough, and I doubt he's much better as a rebounder. He's better at protecting the rim and probably has a better jumper, but he's nothing more than another role player at this point. I still think Portland makes the most sense. Some filler contract, maybe Nolan Smith, and a truck full of Paul Allens' money as a sweetener gets it done. They badly need competent depth in their playoff chase.

Pacers Fan

Yeh, position-wise, I'd rather have Hansbrough, but if I had another competent 4, I'd rather have JO.

And Portland makes a lot of sense, especially considering their starting 5 is 6'9", Leonard's been injured and inconsistent, and they've been playing Joel ****ing Freeland. I've also had enough of seeing Claver and Babbitt.

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Indeed.

R-Star

Hansbrough draws a ton of fouls, and contrary to what a lot of Pacers fans have been saying provides good frustration defense in short bursts.

And you're right, JO can't play the 4 anymore.

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R-Star

The only reason Indy was brought up is because JO has hinted wanting to finish his career out there for the last few years. We really don't have any room for him unless Mahinmi or Hibbert were injured though.

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Laker Freak

I guess nobody told Jermaine that he's not a franchise player anymore. Nobody gets that kind of treatment except for maybe Duncan, Kobe and Lebron.

Marcus13

And you were NEVER a franchise player for THIS Franchise.

I definitely raised an eyebrow when I saw that sentence -- surprising, he really seemed to embrace his small role in Boston

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