"Everybody said last year was a great year for me, but it was an average year," O'Neal told reporters the day before training camp opened for the Indiana Pacers. "I know what I'm capable of doing."

What O'Neal is capable of doing could be the rudder that guides a franchise for the next 10 or 15 years. Freed of a four-year reserve role in Portland, he averaged 12.9 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Pacers and blocked a franchise-record 228 shots last season. Now, coming off a promising summer and preseason, he appears poised to improve on those numbers.