Another disgruntled NBA franchise player who wants to win now, not later, has popped up in Indiana.

Pacers veteran Jermaine O'Neal voiced his displeasure with the direction of the team Thursday following a loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

"We're a very average team right now," O'Neal told the Indianapolis Star. "We're going to be average until we decide as players that we want to win and do the right things we're supposed to do to win. If we don't do it, we're going to mingle around .500, get in the playoffs and then be out."

The constant Pacers inconsistency has O'Neal thinking about his future with the team. Although clearly frustrated, O'Neal, who is averaging a team-high 19.3 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, said his first choice is to remain with the team. But he did not rule out that a change may be necessary.

"If I can't take this team to another level, I truthfully believe we should go our separate ways at the end of the season," said O'Neal, according to the Indianapolis Star. "I'm saying in general, the bottom line is you play to win. If we don't have a system set to win a championship, if we don't have the crew to win a championship, then what are we doing?

"I'm getting to the point, I'm in my 11th year, I don't want to play 82 games and then exit to watch somebody else pop champagne. ... I'm tired of that. I want to compete for a championship. If we can't do it, that's a whole [different] story."

O'Neal said he wouldn't discuss any details regarding if he had taken his frustration to CEO Donnie Walsh and team president Larry Bird, but Walsh said he understood O'Neal's feelings.

"I think he's played really well and if the time comes for [talking about O'Neal's future], then that will be the time. We'll see," said Walsh, according to the Indianapolis Star. "We're going through a difficult part of the season. I'm frustrated, the coaches are frustrated on occasion and the team is frustrated."

I would love to see this get a bit more unpleasant in Indy. Jermaine would look good in a Bulls uni down low next to Wallace.

Do you think Indy would trade him within the division ?

I don't think they'll trade him at all, unless the Indy front office is truly frightened that he'll opt out of his contract at year's end. And even if he does, I'm not sure how much that helps Jermaine, as the teams who project to have cap space are far weaker than the current Pacers squad. He would have to be willing to take a serious cut in pay if he wanted to land with a contender as a free agent. As far as trading within the division goes, sure they'd rather not do it, but nobody out there has the assets that the Bulls have (sizable expiring contract, young talent, and a high draft pick). And actually, the "trade within the division" aspect would affect the Bulls just the same, considering they'd be providing a division rival with cap space, prospects and/or a draft pick.

KS, I would love to have Garnett, Gasol, or O'Neal. Any of those three would push the Bulls from a good team to a great team. The problem with Garnett is the massive contract. You'd have to unload quite a bit to bring him in. I'm not opposed to it necessarily, but it would have been more doable last year, when they had a $13 mil expiring contract (Tim Thomas) versus an $8.5 mil expiring contract (PJ Brown). Then again, if you did it last year, you wouldn't have been able to sign Wallace, so you take the good with the bad I guess.

As for Jermaine's attitude, I think he's matured quite a bit from the young kid who started out with the Jailblazers. Not saying he's a saint, but he's certainly not a cancer. Injury-wise, the guy's not a rock like Cal Ripken or Brett Favre, but I don't think he's Glass Joe either. I would do it if the price were right.