Hmm, this makes things interesting. Mike Wells brings the goods after interviewing Jermaine O'Neal about his frustrating knee injury. J.O. has no plans to deal with the status quo on his knee and labor through the season.

J.O. is rightfully concerned that all the attempts to mask the pain and squeeze out a few games here and there this year may cause him far more pain in the long run and shorten his career.

Without a response from Larry Joe Legend or O'B, we don't know if this is all news to the Pacers. I must say, hearing reports of J.O.'s name in trade talks with the Nets was surprising. Having heard LJL say that center, power forward, and point guard are the key positions NBA teams need secure, bringing in Carter with four more years on his contract didn't make sense. If wing players are the easiest type of player to find, why lay out so much of the cap on the position. I guess you could always turn around and move Carter, but it is a moot point now. These comments from J.O. ought to snuff out any further trade talks this year.

Check out the full Q&A with J.O. and you can tell he's not in a good place. He's fighting for his health, his basketball career, and his reputation on the court. While moving J.O. is now out of the question, so are the chances of J.O. opting out of the final two years and $45 million of his contract. Last summer he talked of doing what's best for him and the franchise and that he wanted to contend for a title. Well, it would take a humanitarian gesture on his part to leave the max money on the table to go play somewhere else. I'd be stunned if a team offered J.O. half that much money no matter how healthy he claims to be next summer. Nope, he's riding out the max deal with the Pacers and this situation sets up perfectly for him to save face and try to do right by the Pacers. If he is staying, I hope he does shut it down and make sure the knee is golden before returning.

I'm sure there will be more to come once we hear what the rest of the Pacers think of this plan.