With an ambitious five-team trade nearly official, the Miami Heat have reshaped two-fifths of their starting line-up with one swift day.

This Heat team, just a few minutes away from the NBA Finals, elected not to safely ?run it back? with the Jones? of Damon and Eddie and will instead bring in two talented, yet unpredictable and volatile players in Jason Williams and Antoine Walker.

Looking first at how this hurts/improves the Heat at the point guard spot, Damon Jones was better statistically than Jason Williams in nearly every category.  He had a better field goal percentage and was vastly better from the 3-point line, shooting 43% compared to Williams? 32%.

Jones was also stellar during the first two rounds of the playoffs versus the Nets and Wizards, but during the conference finals, particularly in Games 6 and 7, Jones was a liability to the club.  He was held to just eight points during those final two games.

Pat Riley and company apparently didn?t see Jones, an ultra journeyman who has played for nine teams since coming into the league with the Nets in 1999, as the point guard who would get the Heat to the Finals.

Ironically, the Kings dealt Jason Williams to the Grizzlies for Mike Bibby for similar reasons back in 2000.  Now he is the veteran point guard, who went to college in Florida who will be asked to be the general for a team itching for the ultimate prize.

Williams is more suited for a system in which he plays 30-35 minutes per game, instead of the limited play he saw in Memphis? rotation when he shared time with Earl Watson.

The big upgrade though is clearly Antoine Walker and the reason is because the Heat must get past the frontcourt that Flip Saunders inherits in Detroit.  Replacing Eddie Jones with Walker all of a sudden gives Pat Riley/Stan Van Gundy one of the biggest frontcourts in the NBA as he is inserted beside Udonis Haslem and Shaquille O?Neal.

Not only does Walker give Miami another legitimate rebounder, but he also can do many of the things that made Eddie Jones a valuable player.  While not as good of a 3-point shooter, Walker can certainly stroke it, particularly when he is open and he will be when defenders are forced to collapse on Shaq.  

The biggest question on Walker has never been the level of his talent, but the level of his ability to be a team player and his shot selection.  This is where having the most dominant center since Wilt Chamberlain, who is approaching the twilight of his career and desperately wants a fourth title comes in handy.  There is no delegation of team leader from O?Neal to Walker, as it will go through Dwyane Wade if it goes anywhere at all.

At half of what Walker was making on his prior contract, Walker is a steal for the Heat and they are instantly the Eastern Conference favorites.

The insecurities that a team like Dallas might have had about going with Walker on a title run where he would be a malcontent and lead to crumbling of a potential powerhouse, are entirely irrelavent in Miami.

Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.com and can be reached at Christopher.Reina@RealGM.com.