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Shaq-tastic times A look at the colorful career of four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal. NBCSports.com

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But what exactly has Shaq done to make his teams better these three years since riding Wade's coattails in those 2006 playoffs? (For those who forget, the Heat's difference-making center in that deciding game of the 2006 NBA Finals in Dallas was Alonzo Mourning, not Shaq.)

Even with the Heat, getting Shaq wasn't enough. It wasn't until Pat Riley added Antoine Walker and Jason Williams that a team that lost to the Pistons in the 2005 Eastern Conference finals was good enough to make it to the championship series.

Similarly, the Suns, just a year after acquiring Shaq, found themselves caught in the desperation of what turned into a failed grab for Jason Richardson.

No, there still has to be more for the Cavaliers than just adding Shaq. Suddenly, retaining free-agent Anderson Varejao becomes even more important. There has to be an active four alongside Shaq to make any of this work. Otherwise, there might have to be a reach with the mid-level exception for Rasheed Wallace, if only to find active enough legs and length to deal with those opposing pick and rolls.

The Shaq deal cost the Cavaliers about $10 million, but could wind up costing even more before the close of the summer. An active wing remains a needed acquisition. The price being paid to keep LeBron happy for 12 months is staggering. And that's before LeBron signs on the dotted line (they hope) for $120 million next summer.

And then, seemingly as there always is, there is the case of The Big Scorched Earth.

By the day, Kobe is looking better and better. Somewhere in Orange County he is smiling this morning. Smiling, not Tweeting, since being front and center isn't nearly as significant to the former sidekick.

It certainly was ugly enough when Shaq left the Lakers. At the time, though, it was difficult to determine the true villain in the dismantling of the dynasty.

Then, consider that when Shaq left the Heat, there were darts tossed at not only the team's training staff and Pat Riley, but also the teammate who helped deliver that supposedly liberating championship. No, it did not end well with Wade. It ended with Shaq, behind Wade's back, derisively calling his former teammate "Wonder Boy."

And then consider all that has transpired with the Suns, the type of irreparable damage that might never be salvaged by Steve Kerr before he, too, is shown the door.

Shawn Marion? Gone. Mike D'Antoni? Gone. Terry Porter? Gone. Amare Stoudemire? So disillusioned about being demoted to third option that he soon might be gone, with a free-agency window opening next summer. Boris Diaw? Gone. Raja Bell? Gone.

Beyond that, there were the undercurrents of unease with Steve Nash. Who the heck doesn't get along with Steve Nash? Who doesn't treasure a player who gets you the ball when you want it where you want it and how you want it?

It hardly was coincidence that amid these Shaq trade discussions, the Suns also were negotiating an extension with Nash.

What's next for the Suns? The type of overhaul they attempted to avoid with the acquisition of Shaq, as odd as that sounds alongside an aging point guard. But at least they'll run again, because that's the least management and ownership can return to the fans, after realizing such a limited return with Shaq.

When Heat owner Micky Arison dealt Shaq to the Suns in 2008, he assured Suns owner Bob Sarver that by the time Shaq's deal reached its final year, there would be a way to unload the final $20 million-plus on the center's deal.

Ultimately, that became the case.

Because, in the end, a former Most Valuable Player and a future Hall of Famer has turned into something that surely, albeit privately, has Kobe and Riley and Wade and Amare and Porter smiling today:

The Big Expiring Contract.

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Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters

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