The Sports Corner

Done Deal: Jermaine O’Neal to the Raps

The worst kept secret ever. All it needed was the Nesterovic throw-in and it’s finally done.

This is a fantastic move by the Raptors, because although he won’t say it, Jose Calderon won the starting point guard job from TJ Ford last season. TJ makes too much money to stick around and be a sixth man.

Now, the Raptors starting line-up is looking pretty damn good. Oh, and big. Very Big.

They finally have a true centre in O’Neal who can play both ends of the floor very effectively, which should help Bosh when he’s double teamed, and vice-versa.

With two 6′11″ guys in the paint, it leaves the seven footer on the perimeter, where he likes to be. And this will bode well for Toronto, as Bargnani will have a load off of his shoulders and won’t have to live under much pressure being the number one pick from last year.

He’ll also flourish with his continuous improvements of driving the ball since O’Neal and Bosh can clear out the paint a little bit for him.

Will he put up 20 a game? No. But I do predict the sophomore slump is over, because defences around the league are going to have to make some serious adjustments.

The one problem with this deal is that it doesn’t leave the Raptors much depth at point guard with Ford gone. When you get past Calderon and Carlos Delfino, you’re not left with much, or anything at all.

This could be a very interesting season for the T-dot.