Jermaine O’Neal rumors: Expected to sign with contender
By Bryan Rose
After the Golden State Warriors’ season ended, the future of Jermaine O’Neal was somewhat cloudy. Would the veteran finally hang up the sneakers? Or would he attempt to return for another season?
More from Golden State Warriors
- Predicting NBA’s Christmas Day Schedule: Lakers, Warriors highlight slate of postseason rematches
- Steph Curry still defends Kevin Durant: ‘Most misunderstood dude’ in the NBA
- NBA Rumors: Warriors, Lakers among contenders for key free agent
- Warriors projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
- Draymond Green blasts Kevin Garnett after falling for a fake tweet
It seemed as if O’Neal had finally decided to give up the ghost and ride off into the proverbial sunset as his comments directed at his Golden State Warriors teammates seemed to indicate he had played his final NBA game. But with the season just around the corner, the basketball bug may have bitten Jermaine O’Neal one more time as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders believes it’s a matter of time until he signs with a contender.
"That’s a good question regarding Jermaine O’Neal. He has played well over the last two seasons and he’s a low-risk, high-reward signing at this point. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until he joins a contender."
What isn’t mentioned is if Jermaine O’Neal would be interested in re-signing with the Golden State Warriors, assuming he does come back.
It’s difficult to tell if the Warriors are true championship contenders at this point (as opposed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, etc) though it’s not known who would have interest in O’Neal either.
While the big man can still be serviceable, he’s not the type of guy you can rely on for more than a few minutes per night. Few teams have more need for a big man off the bench than the Warriors, so maybe the two will be able to reconnect for another season as they appear to be a good fit for each other.