Former All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal of the Indiana Pacers was traded today to the Toronto Raptors for point guard T.J. Ford, center Rasho Nesterovic, and the Pacers first round draft pick. Ford, who was the Raptors' starting point guard the past two seasons, is unhappy with the Raptors' organization and the Raptors began to shop Ford around. Jose Calderon, the Raptors' other point guard, proved to be a capable starting point guard when Ford had a neck injury and missed 13 games. The Raptors are now ready to install Calderon as their permanent starter. O'Neal has gone through his problems with the last couple of seasons as well. In the 2004-2005 season, O'Neal was involved in the worst sports brawl in NBA history when Ron Artest, who was with the Pacers then, got into a fight with a fan. O'Neal got involved and was suspended for 15 games. The Pacers never recovered from that moment. Artest was suspended for the entire season and his future in the NBA was in doubt. Stephen Jackson, who was a guard for the Pacers during that season, was suspended for 30 games for punching fans as well. The Pacers never recovered as they missed the playoffs twice since. In the season before, they had the Eastern Conference #1 seed and 61 wins. Now the Raptors, who have been to the playoffs twice in two seasons with T.J. Ford, now have a good frontcourt with O'Neal and Chris Bosh. Which team will be better from this trade? Will O'Neal and Ford be happy with this deal?
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