<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jim O'Brien isn't a gambler. But the new Indiana Pacers coach said he believes the odds favor All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal wearing a Pacers uniform next season. "I've sat down and talked at length with Jermaine and where he sees his career going," O'Brien said from his office Thursday afternoon. "If I'm his coach next year, which I expect to be and want to be, my job and Jermaine's job as leaders is to be on the same page, which I think we will be, and we both need to be examples for the team." O'Neal, along with Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, are the marquee names being discussed in trade rumors. O'Neal has said he doesn't want to stay if the Pacers rebuild. "I know trades are hard to make when you're talking about a big trade involving somebody like Jermaine O'Neal or Kevin Garnett because they are extremely important to the future of your franchise, and you cannot make a mistake, nor will we make a mistake about that," O'Brien said. "I have a sense that the odds are against the fact that Jermaine O'Neal will be traded. It's just reality. . . . With that in mind, I'm playing the odds. I'm planning on coaching him." O'Brien has met or spoken by phone with each player. He said O'Neal (knee surgery) and swingman Marquis Daniels (knee tendinitis) are doing on-the-court work. Center David Harrison will not participate in the team's summer league next month because he is not fully healed from shoulder surgery in late April.</div> Source: Indy Star
