Shaquille O’Neal is no longer a member of the Miami Heat. He’s been traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I haven’t been following this NBA season too closely, in part because the Heat have been terrible and in part because my schedule hasn’t allowed to me watch a single game this season. But I’m a Heat fan and have been one since I was in elementary school. I know Shaq’s one of the greatest to ever play the game, but I’m certainly not sad to see him go. He’s lost a step or two, he’s out of shape, and he has a monster contact that was going to prevent the team from signing any sort of free agent for the next two seasons. I know he helped make the Heat relevant again, and I know he played a part in the 2006 title, but you can’t make today’s decisions based on yesterday’s winning formula.
If you recall I was opposed to the Heat trading for Shaq in the first place. They gave up Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, two extremely talented players. True, they also got rid of Brian Grant and his terrible contract, but I’ve always wondered what the Heat could have done with that young nucleus. I sort of recanted my position after the ’06 championship, though I stood by the fact that he was less a part of that team’s success than any of his other championship teams (or, for that matter, the success of the ’05 Heat).
My old roommate Aaron is a big Magic fan and a fan of the NBA game in general. He brought up the point that the Heat have managed to unload two of the worst contacts in the league this season: first Antoine “Fat” Walker with his $8.3 million of nonsense and now Shaq with his $20 million over the next two full seasons. I’m certainly not impressed that management took on contact obligations like theirs to begin with, but I’m very impressed at their ability to find people who were dumb enough to take those contacts from them. It gives me hope that the Heat will be able to make some moves that will entice Wade to stay in Miami for the length of his career.
I have to admit, I’m usually a little sadder to see a player that helped one of my teams win a championship leave the team. You know, unless his name is Fat Walker. But in this case I’m really excited to see him go. And I don’t think I’m alone. I get the impression that Heat fans aren’t crying over his departure at all, that they’re breathing a deep sigh of relief. You know, it’s funny. He arrived with so much fanfare, complete with a parade in South Beach before he’d ever played a single game for the Heat, and yet now he’s leaving so quietly.
Even though the current season is still a wash, the future is now much brighter. It’ll be very interesting to see what the front office chooses to do with their newfound freedom, whether they’ll try to resign Marion or if they’ll covet some other free agent. They’ll have a lot of ping pong balls with their name on them for the draft lottery. The Heat might become a contender — well, a contender in the Eastern Conference — as early as next season.
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