The Miami Heat won their first championship in franchise history in 2006, but that was the result of a huge gamble, a blockbuster trade in 2004. Dwyane Wade was a promising player, but the Heat needed a superstar teammate to get them over the line.
Before the 2004-05 NBA season, the Miami Heat were a decent team with a 42-40 record. However, they were not considered favorites, mainly because they lacked a true superstar. The Heat had a budding star in Dwyane Wade, but he only lasted one year.
After Wade’s rookie season, the Heat pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Shaquille O’Neal. It was a big gamble, as Miami sent Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and a future first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers.
This was a monumental move for the Heat. That’s because the Heat now have a legitimate superstar center and Wade’s mentor on the roster. Two years later, they would benefit from a trade, as O’Neal became influential in the front office and was Wade’s co-star in the championship game in the 2006 postseason.
As a young player selected by the Heat in the 2004 NBA Draft, Dorell Wright was originally scheduled to play a large role in his first season. That didn’t happen, as the Heat decided not to trade O’Neal.
Although Wright didn’t play much during his six seasons with the Heat, he learned many lessons during his time there. He had a lot of fun because he was part of the 2006 team that won the championship in his second NBA season.
He didn’t play much in his first two seasons, appearing in only 23 regular season games total. However, Wright played in 66 games and started 19 times during the disastrous 2006-07 championship defense.
In the following 2007-08 season, O’Neal struggled in practice. This led Pat Riley to send him to the Phoenix Suns, where he would make a small comeback.
Years after retiring from the NBA, Wright talked about how he felt when the Heat traded him.
“When I got drafted, it was cool because it was a young team. They looked at me like this guy was going to be next to D. Wade for years to come. Once they made the Shaq trade, that kind of changed everything,” Wright said on the Knuckleheads Podcast about the Heat’s 2004 trade, which was finalized two years later.
“It was love from day one. I learned so much from that guy, the good and the bad. We all know Shaq is the ultimate prankster. So having him around and learning from him and learning from all the veteran players that we got that year was really great.”
Even though the Heat fell in the standings after the 2006 championship, the franchise established itself as capable of winning an NBA championship. They were a good enough team to win a championship during a decade dominated by the San Antonio Spurs and Lakers.
Since then, the Heat have established a culture they are proud of. Riley has been a driving force behind that as head coach and team president. That dominance extended into the early 2010s, reaching the NBA Finals four times and winning two championships.
Wade and O’Neal are considered legends in Miami for their contributions to the series. Miami is proving that taking big swings can pay off, not just for your short-term future in the NBA, but for your long-term future as well.