You notice how no one openly wondered whether the Heat were making the right move by trading Shaquille O'Neal for Shawn Marion? There's no need to ask a question you already know the answer to.
Pulling no puches with the truth, this has less to do with adding a Matrix than it does subtracting a Diesel.
At this stage of his career, it's only worth paying O'Neal his $20 million-per-year salary if he can be your closer. He's no longer the type of player you build around. In the next few months, the Heat need to figure out whether Marion is someone they're comfortable shelling that type of money out to keep. His first impression was great, but excuse me if I don't instantly endorse him joining Bill Parcells on the poster for a brighter tomorrow for a city that's had to sit through the Marlins' annual fire sales, the Dolphins' implosion and O'Neal stalling like an '85 Dodge Diplomat.
Marion instantly picked up his new squad's energy level, finishing with 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while feeling out his new teammates, but it's still too early to come to the conclusion that this is the perfect tag-team partner for Wade. Bottomline, is he the player who is going to keep Wade from bolting when his own deal is up in 2010?
That's the next step in Miami's resurrection, equally as important as keeping O'Neal's contract from becoming the anchor that sunk the franchise. Is it worth letting Marion unpack permanently?
Deciding now would be like committing yourself to a lifetime of water because that's the first thing you come across following a stroll through the desert. The Heat don't have a lot of time to make up their minds, because if Marion decides he is going to claim his $17.8 million option to stay on through next season, it would make the most sense to start working on an extension, but that decision doesn't have to be made after his first game, which many overzealous Heat supporters are already doing.
Pat Riley jumped the gun in declaring his new tandem the new-school version of Jordan and Pippen. Things may work out that way, but the pairing could also wind up as ill-conceived as the alley-oop pass Wade try to throw Marion in the final minute of Sunday afternoon's loss, a play that would've cut the Heat's deficit to 100-96 but instead sailed harmlessly out of bounds, sealing their fate.
If this is going to work, both need to improve from the perimeter, but most important is probably that their personalities and egos mesh. Both have been fairly laid back in my experiences with them, but at the same time, it's worth pointing out that Marion has always coveted a starring role and Wade has always had O'Neal's shadow to work under. Shaq's veteran influence and his willingness to let Wade shine helped things work as smoothly as they did, but there's no guarantee that this new partnership of guys trying to come up would have similar continuity.
On the plus side, if Flash/Matrix does reign in South Florida, one major beneficiary could be Dorell Wright. Wright's best performances in his three-plus years as a pro have come in games where the tempo is accelerated and it stands to reason that Miami will transition into a run-and-gun squad since Mark Blount would be the only center guaranteed a spot on the roster. In the Heat's three highest-scoring performances of the season, not surprisingly against Phoenix, Golden State and Orlando on a night it was feeling frisky, Wright posted averages of 16.3 points, 12 rebounds and 2.3 blocks on. Best of all, he had no turnovers.
He looked good starting alongside Marion and Blount in the Heat frontcourt on Sunday, netting 15 points and seven boards while again failing to commit a turnover. In fact, he did little that could be considered stupid outside of a few unnecessary fouls, which reminds me that Shaq once called the then-teenager a can't miss-star back when he was drafted out of high school in 2004, wowed by his basketball instincts. Wright, now 22, is clearly a player excels when he doesn't have to think out there and could put up big numbers over the next few months entering a summer in which he'll be a restricted free agent. Considering how close he and Wade are, his emergence could be another important factor in keeping Wade tied to Miami, undoubtedly Pat Riley's chief objective regardless of whether or not he returns for another season on the bench or moves upstairs permanently.
The Heat won't be making the playoffs, but at least they're worth watching again. What happens the next few months could affect their franchise for the next decade.
