"My preference is to play here and win here," O'Neal said in a telephone interview after returning from Los Angeles yesterday, attempting to deflate a brewing controversy that had brought clarifying statements from Pacers president Larry Bird and O'Neal's agent, Arn Tellem.

O'Neal appeared at — but did not play in — a charity basketball game Sunday hosted by NBA stars Baron Davis and Paul Pierce. There he talked with reporters from the Sports Illustrated and ESPN Web sites.

Both accounts quoted him expressing a desire to be traded to the Lakers.

"It's time for me to move on," O'Neal was quoted in the ESPN story. "And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to."

O'Neal added that the Pacers are "obviously" in a rebuilding mode, and he did not want to "take in five years of losses and downtime." He added that he also would favor a trade to New Jersey.

Bird has had trade discussions with both teams regarding O'Neal this summer. A draft day conversation with the Nets was brief, however, and he has not talked with the Lakers since early July.

Bird issued a statement through the Pacers yesterday, repeating his claim that O'Neal would be traded only if he brings "fair market value."

"Jermaine has worked out very hard this summer while rehabilitating his knee after surgery (for a torn meniscus)," the statement read. "We believe under (new head coach) Jim O'Brien that our team as a whole and Jermaine as a player can be successful. You never know what will happen, but for now Jermaine is an Indiana Pacer."

Tellem, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, denied that O'Neal wanted out of Indiana.

"He hasn't requested a trade to the Lakers," Tellem wrote. "Any reports to the contrary are inaccurate."

The ESPN story also quoted O'Neal as criticizing Bird for wanting too much from the Lakers in a trade.

"Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with," O'Neal said. "He tries to make unfair trades. He wants to gut a team, but the Lakers are trying to get over the hump. I want Indiana to benefit, but with some nice young players and draft picks. I want to make it clear that I don't want to gut a team that I come to, because then it'll be like Indiana all over again."

O'Neal denied making that statement yesterday when it was read to him.

"Wow," he said. "I didn't say that."

O'Neal said he believes the Pacers can reach the playoffs next season with their current roster, and spoke positively about O'Brien, who will install a faster-paced offense.

Contrary to his quotes in the Internet stories, he said the Pacers are not rebuilding.

"We have a team that's coming back that was thrown into the fire pretty quickly (after the eight-player trade with Golden State) and never really got comfortable," he said. "Giving them a full year is the most interesting part.

"The key thing is for everybody to come in a lot better than they were last year. Give the new guys (Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu) a chance to come into a fresh training camp and get their feet wet. There will be a big difference between how they played this year and last year. That was a tough situation to come into, especially with a team that hadn't missed the playoffs in 10 years."

O'Neal averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots last season. He played in 69 of the 82 games, and suffered a knee injury with three months left in the season.

He had surgery to repair torn meniscus cartilage after the season.

"I should have gotten that (surgery) two years ago," he said. "I feel a difference in my movement now. It will be the first time in a long time I'm walking into a season worry free about any part of my body. I'm really excited."

O'Neal will be paid nearly $20 million in the upcoming season. He will receive about $43 million over the final two years of his deal if he doesn't invoke his opt-out clause and become a free agent.

He was quoted in Los Angeles as saying he would opt out "if things don't work" with the Pacers next season, but downplayed that possibility later in the day.

"I'm happy where I'm at," he said. "As far as the opt-out clause, it's there. But the only way I do that is if it's a very unenjoyable situation."

Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said he was not disturbed by O'Neal's reported comments in Los Angeles, nor does he believe the threat of O'Neal's impending free agency will pressure the team into a trade.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Walsh said. "That option has always been there. If that's what he'd like to do, he can do it."