Even though Shaquille O'Neal's current contract has two years remaining, Heat executive Pat Riley, will likely discuss an extension with the center prior to the beginning of the season.  

O'Neal has the abilitiy to opt-out of the contract following this coming season and may use that as leverage while negotiating an extension, even though the odds of him finding a more lucrative contract on the open market are vitually non-existent.

In other Heat news, Riley stated that he has yet to speak to free agent Karl Malone, but would be interested in signing the power forward.

The roster of the Shaquille O'Neal era in Miami remains a makeshift one.  The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that O'Neal is high on Memphis point guard Jason Williams and Pat Riley is currently exploring scenarios where they can bring in the former University of Florida player.

With the word on the street saying that Bryon Russell is out of shape the Heat are considering their options.  Russell is a good friend of Shaq which is as much pull as he will ever need with the Miami higher-ups.

Before the signing of Wesley Person it is said that the Heat briefly considered signing Glen Rice, Walt Williams, and Steve Smith.  If done, the Heat would return to the glory days of the 1994-1995 season.  A team that was virtually unbeatable in the Super Nintendo hit, NBA-Live95.  The question remains....Where is Harold Minor?

Unrestricted free-agent Toni Kukoc will sign a one-year contract to return to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Kukoc is 35 and has become a key reserve for Milwaukee.  The deal is expected be final next week.  Terms of the contract were not announced.

Kukoc was acquired in a trade that sent forward Glenn Robinson to the Atlanta Hawks in 2002 and has applied his high basketball IQ with positive results as a Buck.

Kukoc put up 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 73 games last season.

"Not only do our players like playing with him, but the community has embraced him," Bucks general manager Larry Harris said. "He has a great passion for the game, a great intellect.  He's been through everything in this game. He's a great piece, and one of our focal points in free agency to get done."

Harris has repeatedly said that he was confident of retaining Kukoc.  Entering his 12th NBA season, Kukoc received widespread interest from around the league, including Miami and Sacramento.

Kukoc was in the final year of a contract that paid him $9.1 million.

Free agent Rodney White would love to remain a Nugget, but he also wants to play as well.  "I just really want an opportunity," White said. "I played 13 minutes a game last year. I would like to play some more minutes.

To remain a Nugget White would probably have to take a temporary pay cut as Denver is already $2.3-million under the salary cap.  They also declined to pick up White?s $2.5-million dollar option for next season.

"When I get the playing time, hopefully 2.5 won't even be what we'll be talking about. I just want the best situation right now. I'm not looking for the max dollars."

Given this fact White is still looking forward to the opportunity to remain with the Nuggets.  "I would like to end up back in Denver," White said. "Denver has a chance to go very far, and I would love to be part of that if I'm utilized the right way."

Miami and New Orleans are the two other teams expressing interest in White.

After a checkered past as a Los Angeles Clipper, the Miami Heat was taking a gamble when they signed Lamar Odom as a free-agent last season.  

But the gamble paid off as Odom produced for a surprising Heat team.

Now the multi-talented forward is heading back to Los Angeles in the Shaquille O'Neal trade, hoping to keep his career moving forward as a Laker.

Some did not think Odom would ever reach all-star status in the NBA, let alone become an Olympian.

"I saw them on television," Odom said, "and decided I wanted to play in the Olympics and have been dreaming of what it would be like ever since."

Odom was stunned when coach Larry Brown first brought up the possibility of an Olympic spot.

"Man, I just didn't believe him when he said that," Odom said. "I had a pretty good night. I was hitting shots, making passes, grabbing rebounds and playing defense. Just an all-around good game.  Then [Brown] tells me that he's going to do whatever he can to get me on the team. There really was nothing I could say after that."

Wesley Person is expected to sign a $1.6 million contract with Miami to help bolster the Heat's small forward position, the Miami Herald is reporting.

Person, a sharp shooter with a 41.3% three-point average over his career, beat out free agents Marcus Fizer, Lee Nailon, Kendall Gill, Bryon Russell and Michael Curry.

Miami aggressively courted Toni Kukoc, but he is planning to re-sign with Milwaukee.

Heat management continues to pursue the necessary pieces to create a championship contender with Shaquille O'Neal in the middle.  

The team lost much of its depth and perimeter talent in the trade with Los Angeles to bring O'Neal to Miami.

Person's outside range could keep defenses honest and relieve pressure on the inside.  The idea is that collapsing defensive schemes and double teams on O'Neal in the post could lead to some wide open spot-up looks from beyond the arc.

Former NBA player Dennis Scott is considering a comeback, and the Miami Heat may be interested.

Scott, a three point sharpshooter whose career peaked in the early 90s with the Orlando Magic, has expressed disdain for the current state of the game in terms of the long distance shot.

The Heat, still pursuing their goals of a cadre of sharpshooters to surround Shaquille O'Neal, have expressed interest in the 35 year old former player. And he thinks he still has what it takes.

"For me, shooting the 3 is like riding a bike,'' Scott said. "I could still help a team today because I can still make them with my eyes closed.''

At the very moment that Shaquille O'Neal was traded to Miami, a lot of people started thinking the same thing:  How long would Pat Riley stay away from coaching the Heat again, now that the league's most dominant big man patrols the middle?

So for Stan Van Gundy, the Heat's successful first-year coach last season, the clock begins ticking, because it may not be long before Pat Riley is back on the sidelines again.

Van Gundy accomplished a lot last season, going from 0-7 to 42-40 and his team's first playoff berth in three years.  But until last year, Van Gundy was a career NBA assistant.

Remember, Riley even attempted to see if he could coach Shaq as Laker.

"I do think that (the opportunity to coach Shaq) was what sort of led me to my little sojourn to Los Angeles," Riley says of his June meeting with Lakers' management.

"The day I knew that we were going to get Shaquille O'Neal is the day that I said to myself, 'Now I'm really glad that I can sit in this chair and observe and really enjoy watching,' " he says. "Would I have loved to coach Shaquille sometime when I was coaching? It would have been a blessing."

Riley insists he wants to remain in the front office.  But that might change.  

"Now I get to be president of a team, with Shaquille here, allowing a young coach to develop with him, just like I did with Kareem," he says. "I think he's going to help Stan tremendously."

"Pat has never said anything about that to me," Van Gundy says, "and I've never brought it up to him."

Out with the old, and in with the new. New center that is. Shaquille O?Neal recently made an offer of about $18 million for a 19,440-square-foot, two-story home at 26 Star Island Drive.

The home once belonged to former Heat center, Rony Seikaly and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Miami centers of the past.