My initial reaction to yesterday's blockbuster trade between the Heat and the Suns went something like this:

Shaq + Run-and-Gun + Contract = Suns Are Insane

That was the initial reaction to the Shaquille O'Neal for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks deal between the Heat and Suns. It’s hard to understand why you blow up a team that was a suspension away from the NBA Finals.

We can debate the fact that the Suns get a plodding Shaq (proponents of the deal will say that the deal adds a post-up presence in the middle, a body in the paint, which opens up the perimeter), and that Shawn Marion wanted to be traded (yes, but Marion only had one year left on his contract). There are silver linings in everything, if you look close and hard enough. As I am quoted in an article today by Tim Lemke of the Washington Times (Financial Freedom):

While analysts are at a loss to know why the fast-paced Suns would acquire the plodding O'Neal, it's clear the struggling Heat are looking for one thing that teams perpetually seek: financial breathing room.

After this season, O'Neal is due $40 million over the next two years, a daunting number for the Heat, who have more than $60 million committed to star guard Dwyane Wade.

"You can understand Miami's perspective," said Maury Brown, founder of the online Business of Sports Network and operator of bizofbasketball.com. "He's aging, he's not getting any better and he's got $40 million left on his contract. It's unloading dollars and adding payroll flexibility, which is what it's about in the NBA."

Expanding on my comments, here’s what I mean: The Heat are creating player payroll flexibility by removing the rest of his $20 million contract this season, along with 2 years, $40 million obligation with O’Neal through the ’09-‘10 season (looking at this year, Shaq has the third highest salary in the NBA behind Michael Finley and Kevin Garnett), while picking up the prorated part of Shawn Marion’s $16,440,000 contract this season along with $3,888,000 in Marcus. Marion has a $17,180,000 contract for next season (which he has an opt out clause on), and if the Heat retain Banks, they pick up $4,176,000 next year. Based upon yearly salary (not prorated for games already played) the Suns gain $3,888,000 this year.

Here’s what the Suns and Heat look like in the way of salaries after the deal:

Suns

• Shaquille O'Neal - $20,000,000
• Amare Stoudemire - $13,762,775
• Steve Nash - $11,375,000
• Leandrinho Barbosa - $5,600,000
• Raja Bell - $4,750,000
• Grant Hill - $1,830,000
• Eric Piatkowski - $1,219,590
• Brian Skinner - $1,103,225
• Sean Marks - $1,033,930
• Alando Tucker - $931,920
• DJ Strawberry - $427,163

Total: $71,033,603 (Now ranked 11th in the league)

Heat

• Shawn Marion - $16,440,000
• Dwyane Wade - $13,041,250
• Jason Williams - $8,937,500
• Ricky Davis - $6,817,500
• Mark Blount - $6,737,500
• Udonis Haslem - $6,050,000
• Marcus Banks - $3,888,000
• Alonzo Mourning - $2,762,500
• Smush Parker - $2,200,000
• Dorell Wright - $1,700,622
• Daequan Cook - $1,184,400
• Earl Barron - $973,328
• Chris Quinn - $687,456
• Alexander Johnson - $687,456
• Joel Anthony - $427,163
• Anfernee Hardaway - $284,571
• Luke Jackson - $230,628

Total: $73,049,874 (Now ranked 8th in the league)

But here’s what should scare the daylights out of Suns fans, and give Heat fans hope. Look at how these two teams stack up in terms of total player payroll when looking at this season to next:

• Not under contract: Williams, Davis, Mourning, Barron, Quinn, Anthony, Hardaway, Jackson
• Player Option: Parker ($2,400,000)
• Team Option: Johnson ($687,456)
• Qualifying Offer: Wright ($2,425,086)

• Not Under Contract: Piatkowski, Skinner, Marks
• Player Option: Hill ($1,976,400)
• Team Option: Strawberry ($711,517)

As you can see, suddenly general manager Randy Pfund and coach Pat Riley have payroll flexibility with which to build around Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion (if he chooses to stay by not opting out). And unless there is a righting of the ship, the Heat will wind with more ping-pong balls in the hopper for this year’s Draft. They will have the ability to go after free agents with a vengence.

On the other hand, the Suns are saddling themselves with a 35 year O’Neal, and not just for this year, but for at least 2 more years. They’ve moved in the opposite direction—hamstringing themselves in the payroll department while attempting to get into the Finals.

So, the Suns are not only gambling with the team for the rest of this season, but are setting themselves up for bad weather in years to come, should the Shaq experiment crash and burn.

In conclusion, one might do a deal like this if you were getting a player that is of premier talent – think LeBron, or Kobe, or Duncan – along those lines. But Shaq no longer is within that sphere. And, worse, in terms of the Suns run-and-gun style game, the team will have to redefine themselves half way through the season into more of a half-court team. Maybe the plan is to use Shaq for 12-15 min. a game. If that’s the case, it’s an extremely expensive and cumbersome addition that hangs a weight around your neck in the following years. Anyway you slice it; the Suns appear to going backwards, while Pfund and Riley must have the grin of a Cheshire cat.