Hello, Miami: O'Neal trade goes through

MIAMI - The Big Diesel has gone coast to coast.

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The Lakers and Heat finalized a trade Wednesday sending Shaquille O'Neal to Miami, with Los Angeles getting Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a first-round draft pick in return.

"I wanted to go to another contender, and Miami is definitely another contender," O'Neal said. "We're just going to grow together."

The deal, ending his eight-year tenure in Los Angeles, had been on the verge of completion since Saturday, when he met in Orlando with Heat president Pat Riley and agreed to the trade. NBA attorneys approved it hours after the league's two-week moratorium on player movement ended.

"Today, the Miami Heat took a giant step forward in our continued pursuit of an NBA championship," Riley said in a statement. "We feel that we have traded for the best player in the NBA."

The 7-foot-1, 340-pound O'Neal transforms a franchise that has reached the conference finals once in its 16-year history into a title threat. The Heat have won one playoff series in four years and went 42-40 last season.

"I never imagined that we would acquire Shaquille O'Neal," guard Eddie Jones said. "It's once-in-a-lifetime trying to get a player like this guy. It's an unbelievable, unbelievable move."

O'Neal is coming off a season when he averaged a career-low 21.5 points, and he has missed 15 games each of the past three seasons with foot and leg injuries. But he's moving to the Eastern Conference, where there's a dearth of dominating centers.

"I've always said that wherever he is, that's where the balance of power is," Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said.

The trade marks a return to Florida for O'Neal, who began his NBA career in 1992 with Orlando and still has a home there. He led the Magic to the finals in 1995.

Days after the Lakers lost this year's championship series to Detroit, he demanded to be traded, weary of feuding with Kobe Bryant and feeling disrespected by owner Jerry Buss. He's under contract for $27.7 million this coming season and $30.6 million in 2005-06.

The Lakers' most significant acquisition is Odom, coming off the best season in his five-year NBA career. He and Butler were considered cornerstones in the Heat's recent rebuilding effort, while Grant is a 10-year veteran.

Riley he said he was saddened to part with all three players.

"It disheartens me to see them leave," Riley said. "However, you don't get many chances to acquire the best player in the league, and this was a trade I felt we had to make."

SHAQ by the numbers

AGE: 32
Seasons in the NBA: 12; four with Orlando, eight with Los Angeles Lakers
Average points: 27.1
Average rebounds: 12.1
Average blocks: 2.6
Named All-Star: 11 times
NBA championships: Three, all with the Lakers