BOSTON (AP) – Mark Blount signed to stay with the Boston Celtics after nearly being driven away by a year of turmoil. Now he has to figure out a way to stop Shaquille O’Neal four times a season instead of two.

“We’ll see,” he said Wednesday about O’Neal’s impact after a trade from Los Angeles to the Miami Heat brought the former Laker to the Eastern Conference.

Without the 7-foot, 250-pound Blount, the Celtics’ chances of stopping O’Neal – or any other center, for that matter – would have diminished.

But on Wednesday, the team announced that the unrestricted free agent had signed a contract. He had agreed to the six-year, $42 million deal last Thursday, but it couldn’t be announced until Wednesday after the NBA’s moratorium on trades and free agent signings ended.

“It really wasn’t much of a pitch. It was more of an airing out,” Blount said of efforts by new coach Doc Rivers and executive vice president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to keep him.

Blount, Boston’s only significant unrestricted free agent, averaged career highs of 10.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while playing all 82 regular-season games last season, his fourth with Boston. Only O’Neal had a better field-goal percentage than Blount.

But Blount was upset by a lack of communication with management about his role and the direction of the team, which was adding young players and was swept in the first round of the playoffs. Three major trades and the resignation of coach Jim O’Brien added to the confusion.

“It was a tough decision,” said Blount, who also was sought by Memphis and Philadelphia. “I was very upset with the year, about how some things went, and I think the meetings I had and the phone calls people made to me let me know where I was at.”

He said conversations with Celtics president Red Auerbach and special projects director JoJo White influenced his decision.

“I came back because of just the people who have been next to me, Red letting me know he’d be interested in me coming back,” Blount said.

And, “I know Doc’s going to stand by his word,” Blount said. “He said, “I’m ready to win now.”‘

White said management was to blame last season for not letting Blount know how important he was to the team and what its plans were.

“You have to have core guys,” White said. “This is where he made his development.”

In four NBA seasons, Blount is averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds. His most productive game came last March 1 when he had 28 points and a career-high 21 rebounds against Orlando.

Boston’s young roster includes two players drafted last year, Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins, and four chosen this year, Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen and Justin Reed.

“I’ve been on the bench. I’ve been through everything they’re going to go through,” Blount said. “It would be nice if they come talk to me.”

Blount was drafted in the second round in 1997 by Seattle out of Pittsburgh, then played in minor leagues before signing as a free agent with the Celtics on Aug. 1, 2000. As a rookie, he averaged 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 64 games.

After the 2001-02 season, he signed with Denver, but was reacquired by the Celtics in a trade on Feb. 20, 2003.