Feb. 19, 2012; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Boston Celtics center Jermaine O

After playing a total of 49 games over the last two seasons with the Boston Celtics, Jermaine O’Neal will be auditioning for the Lakers.

O’Neal battled knee injuries and had surgery in February, and health has been his problem since 2003-2004, the last season in which he played any where near a full load of games.

“Why are the Lakers bothering?” is certainly the question Celtics fans are asking.  After watching him hobble around the last two seasons, Celts fans more than anyone else know that O’Neal has almost nothing left in the tank.

The Celtics loss is, well, the Lakers loss, too.  They’re not obtaining a player that can solidify their front court, because he can’t even stay on the court to do it.

Are the Lakers that desperate, or is it just bringing O’Neal in for an “Audition” as the wiretap reports?  I’m going to have to think it is just to have a look and see if he appears healthy.  If he is, I guess a veteran min contract won’t hurt much, and is a low risk investment on the part of Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak.  If O’Neal played even 55 games, it would be fair return for their money, and that has to be the hope out in La-La land.

Celtics fans are just counting their blessings he’s not here, and that should say enough.

Now that the preseason is over, yeah you missed it, the Celtics have to get down to business and square away the roster. The Celtics are already above the salary cap threshold, so any changes to the roster are going to need to come from within.

From here on out, the Celtics can only sign players for the league minimum. For a place like Boston, attracting players to the Northeast is no easy task.

The Celtics are expected to make a move as soon as tonight, but could wait until tomorrow to make any moves official. The main roster is in place and essentially a no brainer. The tough part comes down to which of the four non-roster invitees are worthy of the two remaining roster spots. Greg Stiemsma, Gilbert Brown, Jamal Sampson, and Michael Sweetney are gunning to make the roster.

“There’s always time,” said Rivers. “We’re going to play them a lot. Honestly, I’ve pretty much made up my mind. But someone could always go for 60 [points]. And I would assume that would change my mind.”

Houdini says: Go with the 6-foot-11, 260-pound Stiemsma. Stiesmsma has played well in camp and fills a need up front. With the aging, brittle KG and Jermaine O’Neal, the Celtics need as much depth in the front court as possible. Stiemsma can block shots and has enough of a shooting touch to sneak onto the back end of the roster.

The new amnesty clause is seen as a valuable lifeline for clubs to get out of some bad contracts signed before the new CBA. Under the new amnesty:

Each team permitted to waive 1 player prior to any season of the CBA (only for contracts in place at the inception of the CBA) and have 100% of the player’s salary removed from team salary for Cap and Tax purposes.

Salary of amnestied players included for purposes of calculating players’ agreed-upon share of BRI.

A modified waiver process will be utilized for players waived pursuant to the Amnesty rule, under which teams with Room under the Cap can submit competing offers to assume some but not all of the player’s remaining contract. If a player’s contract is claimed in this manner, the remaining portion of the player’s salary will continue to be paid by the team that waived him.

Essentially, let’s say the Celtics have a player on their roster with $10 million left on their contract. They can cut this player and have the full $10 removed from their salary cap, a move which could conceivably get them under the salary cap/luxury tax threshold. So, the player is going to get paid regardless. Should a team sign this player to let’s say a contract for $6 mil, the Celtics would be on the hook for the remaining $4 mil.

The clause could be seen as a huge asset for teams looking to shed some dead weight without being handcuffed for years to come.

The amnesty can only be used on deals signed under the former CBA agreement. Currently, only Jermaine O’Neal would be at least entertained as a possibility for exercising this clause. However, removing O’Neal will not provide the breathing room worthy enough to make the move. The Celtics can afford to carry a higher than normal salary range and are in no position to let a big walk away over money that is already signed under contract.

Going into next season is a whole new ball game though. Paul Pierce would have almost $40 mil left on the table and that freed up cap space could be enough to make a serious play at the next crop of free agents that are set to hit the open market after this season. As of now, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul are all set to become free agents following this season and would like nice in green as the team transitions into a new era. Many things can and will happen before than, but at least the Celtics will have a new set of options to explore in order to make sure they are putting the best team as possible on the parquet.