I don't know if any of you know this by now, but Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. You would have had to dig pretty deeply into the sports websites to find any mention of it. But seriously folks, I know it is big news in Phoenix, but why isn't there anything being said in Miami?

I know the Heat are really bad this year with a record of 9-38, but let's keep in mind that this team isn't that far removed from a championship win over Dallas a couple of years ago. The question I have is whether the Heat are risking alienation of their star player Dwyane Wade by trading Shaq? Or is it the other way around? Were they risking alienation if they didn't make a big move to change the downward slide?

I would guess it is the latter more than the former. And the Heat are still a bit of a mishmash of mixed up talent on the floor, but they should start to get a more cohesive game plan together now that Shaq is gone. Heat fans shouldn't expect to get very far this season, but they can hold out hope that this is all just a part of the turnaround.

For the immediate future, the Heat should at least expect to be more competitive. They should play a more up-tempo style now that Shaq is gone. They have Ricky Davis, Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, and now Shawn Marion to run the floor with Dwyane Wade. And who knows for sure if they have enough guns to make this new up-tempo style effective, but I would think that Marion and Wade are a good start to any team.

Then again, I also believe that any team that features Ricky Davis is due for some addition by subtraction.