The End of an Era

When Miami announced that they had traded Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, it effectively ended the Shaquille O'Neal/Dwyane Wade era. Now, it appears to be the Wade/Marion era. Do they compare to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, as Pat Riley suggests? Hell no. But the sky is the limit for these two guys.

Shawn Marion is arguably the most versatile, most underrated, and the best athlete in the League. At 6'7", he's able to grab almost 10 rebounds a night. He has good accuracy and is fearless while driving to the basket. He is a great defender and can guard several positions. He is such a well-rounded player that the only negative thing people have to say about him is his shooting mechanic.

It may be entertaining to see Wade on one side of the fast-break and Marion on the other side. But if Wade and Marion are going to be a duo that will return this team to contention, where is the help? Where is the point guard, who can distribute the ball? Where is the post player who will ease things up on Wade and Marion? Where are the three-point shooters? Where is the depth? Pat Riley still has his work cut out for him, even after making a blockbuster trade.

For those of you that are worried about whether Shawn Marion will stay in Miami, considering he has an early termination option on his contract in just a few months, which expires at the end of the 2008-09 season, I highly doubt Marion would opt out. He wouldn't be able to get $17 million anywhere else and he is also young enough to seek out a maximum contract at the end of next season.

One player that you should not overlook is Marcus Banks. Some people think he is just going to be an expensive, marginal backup point guard for the Heat. Keep in mind that Banks averaged 12 points per game in 2005-06. Also keep in mind that Banks has been learning and growing under one of the best point guards of all time: Steve Nash. He may not be the point guard of the future for Miami, but he may be a spark off the bench.

Where do the Heat go from here? The buzz around the NBA is that Pat Riley is not done making moves, and may even make a trade before the Feb. 21 deadline. If I was Riles, I would try to get Elton Brand in Miami. Yes, Brand, Wade, and Marion come at a hefty price just between the three of them, but Riley alluded to Boston rebuilding so quickly. The Celtics are paying three men over $16 million and one $23.7 million. Assuming the Heat were to acquire Brand, their highest-paid player would be Shawn Marion, who would be making $17 million next season.

A trade of Udonis Haslem, Ricky Davis, and Dorell Wright in exchange for Elton Brand will work according to the provisions of the salary cap. Personally, I would do this trade in a New York minute. Brand can be Miami's low-post scorer and a defender down low, while Wade and Marion can take care of things on the perimeter and slashing to the hoop.

If Miami were to do this trade and assuming Smush Parker would opt to test free agent waters this summer, the Heat would have a salary for next season of about $60.9 million, less than all but five squads. More importantly, the Heat would return to the upper echelon of the League's best. A starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand, and Mark Blount is viable against any team in the League.

The question would now be where Wade and Co. would get his three-point shooters and depth. Marcus Banks is a solid shooter from beyond the arc. Looking at the free agent pool for this summer, Tony Allen, Walter Herrmann, Daniel Gibson, Maurice Evans, Bostjan Nachbar, James Jones, Mikael Pietrus, Juan Dixon, and Gordan Giricek as well as former Heatians Keyon Dooling and James Posey are all solid shooters that will be available. Pietrus has said he'd love to play for Miami, but picking up one or two more shooters wouldn't hurt.

Many columnists and sportswriters say that this is such a good trade for Miami because they simply get rid of a boatload of money. The success of this trade will be determined by what actions the Heat take after the trade. Will Pat Riley be aggressive and surround Wade and Marion with good players? Or will he drop the ball, just like he did in the 2007 offseason?