The past month has brought a dozen different non-updates on Jermaine O’Neal’s wrist injury, each of which has been more vague than the last. The latest non-update is slightly more detailed, as Danny Ainge points out that O’Neal is still rehabbing and deciding whether he can return this season. (Boston Herald)

“Not yet,” Ainge said yesterday when asked if O’Neal’s situation was any more defined. “Jermaine is weighing things and just seeing how his wrist responds to the treatment that he’s been getting and seeing if he wants to continue playing or not play. So he and Dr. McKeon are sort of evaluating that process now.” …

In that O’Neal said he had to make a difficult decision following last season on whether to continue with his career or retire, it would seem that choosing surgery would point him toward hanging it up for good after 16 NBA years.

“I don’t know if it ends his career or not,” Ainge said. “I mean, if he has the surgery it ends his season.

There has been talk that O’Neal wants a buyout, possibly to join the Miami Heat in their quest for a title. But Ainge said he hasn’t had any discussions about that with O’Neal or his agent.

“I never heard any of that, other than in the media,” Ainge said. “Jermaine and I have talked a few times, and I’ve talked with his agent, and that’s never even come up.”

It’s quite odd that someone who might be forced into career-ending surgery is rumored to be asking for a buyout. But I guess the situation will be resolved when it’s resolved, and until then everything will be murky.