Larry Joe Legend Shoots Down J.O. For Zach Rumors

by Tom Lewis on Feb 9, 2008 6:43 AM EST in Indiana Pacers News

Larry Joe Legend went on 1070 The Fan Friday afternoon to deny any interest in the Indiana Pacers trading Jermaine O'Neal for the Knicks' Zach Randolph. Initially, Kravitz asked if anything was going on and LJL simply said, "No." After a brief silence and a couple of chuckles he expounded a bit.

The direction we're going, we don't have any interest in Zach, even though I like him as a person, he's a good player but that's not the direction we want to go. We've talked to every team in the league just to see what's going on out there. You know, we played the other night, Jermaine and Isiah are good friends and that's how all that stuff got started.

Whew! I couldn't see the upside of bringing in Randolph. The cap relief would've been minimal and his deal runs longer than J.O.'s. LJL mentioned he wasn't annoyed because J.O. openly talking about trade possibilities, just part of the current landscape of the NBA.

Because of the salary cap and knowing the situation that most teams are in, players talk about being traded and talk about, you know, going other places, so it really don't bother me. I know back when I played, if you said something like that you'd be outta there in a heart beat. I mean, they could trade a 10 million dollar, well, it wasn't a 10 million player, but a 5 million dollar player for a 2 million dollar player.

Also, LJL has a hilarious reaction to Sam Cassell's efforts to export himself to Boston.

Speaking of J.O., his rehab must be going well, because after weeks of unknown return dates, the Pacers now think he'll be back after the All-Star break. Jim O'Brien doesn't think J.O. will be moved by the February 21st trade deadline. At least, I think that's what he means.

"If somebody was playing for you, you'd wonder where their mind-set is if there are trade rumors out there," O'Brien said. "The fact is, we don't anticipate having him back until after the All-Star break and by that time I imagine he'll still be a Pacer.

"So all the rumors, if there are still any out there -- and I haven't heard any frankly -- will be for naught."

There was a little wiggle room between the lines of O'B's comments. After the Tinsley suspension/deactivation situation, it's hard to take O'B's words at face value, since we know he can perform some semantic gymnastics with his comments. LJL only denied an interest in Randolph, so that doesn't mean they're still not trying to spruce up J.O. for a move. Unfortunately, I find it hard to believe they will be able to move J.O. until he proves he can actually play, again. Minor detail.

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