After being swept in the first round, talk around the league was that Shaquille O’Neal would be leaving Miami. O’Neal says he is not worried about the issue. “I’ve been told that I’m going to retire here, so I’m really not worried about it,” he said. Coach Pat Riley and Owner Mickey Arison have re-assured veteran Center Shaquille O’Neal that he will retire in Miami and that they are looking for players to put around him. The question now is, how long will Shaq continue to play in the NBA.

In other Heat news, Dwyane Wade recovering from knee and shoulder injuries, is expected to have surgery some time in the next week or so. Coach Riley has said that the main priority right now is for him to rehab fully, not for him to come back by the start of the season. Could Wade miss the beginning of the 07-08 season? Only time will tell.

Miami Heat SG, Dwyane Wade recieved good news today. No he was not added to Charles Barkley’s fav. five, but he was named to the All-League Third Team. Dwyane Wade, who lead the Heat in scoring with 27.4 PPG, assists with 7.5 APG, and steals with 2.1 SPG, joins Chauncey Billups (Detroit), Carmelo Anthony (Denver), Kevin Garnett (Minnesota), and Dwight Howard (Orlando) to make up the All-League 3rd Team.

In other Heat news, Center Shaquille O’Neal did not make an All-League Team for the first time since 1993, his rookie season. O’Neal really went down hill this year and only averaged 17 PPG and 7 RPG.

After a dissapointing first round exit in which the Heat was swept by the Bulls, it was clear to everyone in the basketball world that the Heat was getting to old and slow to keep up with the rest of the league. Instead of playing like former champions, the Heat was humiliated by a team that they should have beaten. It is now evident that change must come in order for the Heat to be successful once again. The question is how the Heat will get this help. Currently way over the cap, the Heat have no money to make a big move in Free Agency and only have the MLE and LLE to offer to Free Agents. The Heat have many things they need to do this off-season and unless they make some changes, they will not be successful.

The first thing the Heat need to do is re-sign some players. Both Jason Kapono’s and James Posey’s contracts expired at the end of the season and the Heat will be looking to re-sign them for a reasonable price. Re-signing Jason Kapono, last year’s three-point champ, might not be worth it. Kapono will be looking for a big paycheck after a great season but the Heat currently have Eddie Jones, Antoine Walker, and Dorell Wright at the Small Forward position. Re-signing Posey would be a much smarter move for the Heat as he will cost less and bring more to the table with his defense than Kapono would. After all the last thing this team needs is another big contract.

Once the re-signing period is over, the off-season gets to the exciting part, the NBA Draft and Free Agency. In Free Agency and the NBA Draft, the Heat will have to address a few issues. The Heat must look for a PG and a backup C. Both Heat centers’ careers are nearing the end and as shown in the playoffs, Jason Williams and Gary Payton running the show at PG does not work. The Heat will need to add a young PG or big man through the draft. A few candidates for the Heat at pick #20 could be Javaris Crittenton from Georgia Tech, Acie Law from Texas A&M, or Josh McRoberts from Duke University. If the Heat go with a big man in the draft, they must either go out and trade for a young PG such as Boston’s Sebastian Telfair or someone else and pray that he pans out or spend their money wisely in Free Agency.

Expect for a lot of action from the Heat this off-season. The management knows what they have to do and they do not want to spend Shaq’s last years in mediocrity.

P.J. Brown, Alonzo Mourning and Jamal Mashburn came in 4th place for the Best 3-Player combination of the past decade. They were beat out by trios in the Suns, Spurs and Pacers. The Lenovo Stat was what determined it….It’s “a plus/minus statistic that calculates the point differential when a player, or combination of players, is in the game to see what effect they have on the team.”

You can make your guesses through the playoffs (it’s called the Best NBA Teammates Promotion), and if you guess right, you could win two tickets to the Finals!