The Miami HEAT announced today that they have acquired All-Star forward Antoine Walker from the Boston Celtics, guard Jason Williams, forward James Posey, and guard Andre Emmett from the Memphis Grizzlies and the draft rights to center Roberto Duenas from the New Orleans Hornets in a five-team trade. The HEAT traded Eddie Jones to the Memphis Grizzlies, Rasual Butler to the New Orleans Hornets, and a 2006 second round draft pick, a conditional second round draft pick, Qyntel Woods and the draft rights to Albert Miralles to the Boston Celtics. Additionally, Memphis sent Greg Ostertag to the Utah Jazz and the Jazz sent Curtis Borchardt to the Celtics, Raul Lopez to the Grizzlies and Kirk Snyder to the Hornets.

�We feel like with this trade we traded a lot, but we got back three quality players,� said HEAT President Pat Riley. �Antoine Walker is one of the very best multi-faceted, versatile players in this game. I think his numbers have shown throughout his career that he has been consistent year-in and year-out, providing points and rebounds. He is able to handle the ball, pass it, make plays, shoot threes and rebound the ball. There isn�t anyone in this league better at doing that. I believe that he will bring a tremendous, versatile, play-making, scoring, rebounding dimension to our team. He is in his prime and I think he will pair up brilliantly with Shaquille, Dwyane and the rest of the team.

�Outside of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, there isn�t a better open-floor, half-court playmaker in the league than Jason Williams. His ability to handle the ball, see the floor and hit the open man is as good as any point guard. He is a very athletic, quick, explosive scorer and has great experience. One of the reasons why we are making the trade is that we haven�t had anyone here like that since Tim Hardaway left.

�James Posey is going to be the perfect compliment to Shaq, Dwyane, Walker, Williams, Udonis, etc. because he is a defense-oriented, slashing player who can run the break, play above the rim and will make the open three.

Shaquille O’Neal probably left millions on the bargaining table. His biggest obsession now isn’t dollars but championships.

O’Neal signed a $100 million, 5-year contract with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, a deal that ensures the 12-time All-Star center plenty of added financial security while allowing the team salary flexibility to pursue other players.

He’ll make $20 million in each of the next five seasons in an agreement believed to include incentives. He was to have earned $30.6 million this coming season, opting out of that deal for a longer-term pact with less money annually.

“Shaquille can name his price,” said his agent, Perry Rogers. “And the price he named was winning.”

Rogers said O’Neal remains the player with the highest annual salary in the league.

The deal was signed shortly after the league’s moratorium on player signings expired Tuesday. Signings were supposed to begin nearly two weeks ago, but minor complications in putting the new six-year collective bargaining agreement into writing forced two delays.

O’Neal, however, never looked to go elsewhere. He didn’t even speak with other clubs.

“I’m very excited about my new agreement with the Heat,” O’Neal said in a statement released by the team. “This contract allows me to address all of my family’s long-term financial goals while allowing the Heat the ability to acquire those players that we need to win a championship.”

O’Neal was vacationing Tuesday in Rome. Team doctors will fly there and administer a physical Wednesday. Heat president Pat Riley said signing O’Neal was the team’s top offseason priority.

“For over a year, the Heat’s relationship with Shaquille has been a win-win situation on and off the court,” Riley said. “We have been able to secure one of the most dominant men to ever play the game of basketball. … At the same time, we have gained flexibility to achieve our ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.”

The Heat do not want to be a luxury-tax team, and paying O’Neal $20 million annually — a figure some could consider a bargain — should not send Miami over the tax threshold. It also seems to ensure that Miami could use its midlevel exception annually to sign players; this year’s midlevel is $5 million.

“You get paid the most, but you do it in a way that’s not detrimental to what the team wants to accomplish,” Rogers said.

The 7-foot-1, 327-pound O’Neal made an immediate impact during his first season with Miami, which acquired him in July 2004 from the Los Angeles Lakers for three players and a draft choice.

He averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds in the regular season, leading the league with a 60.1 field goal percentage. O’Neal ranked sixth in the league in blocks (2.34 a game), double-doubles (43) and rebounds.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jerome McDougle was shot in the stomach by armed robbers, police said Friday. The team said he was in good condition after surgery.

He originally was listed in critical condition. However, Derek Boyko, the Eagles’ director of media operations, said McDougle had spoken to police, who said the player was able to walk on his own.

“Our understanding is that Jerome is in good condition after undergoing surgery,” the team said in a statement. “At this time, we are still in the process of gathering the facts of his situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jerome and his family.”

McDougle, who played at the University of Miami and is a South Florida native, had been scheduled to be in the team’s camp Monday, the reporting date for Eagles’ veterans. Rookies reported Friday.

McDougle, 27, was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he underwent the surgery.

Three armed robbers approached McDougle in his silver Mercedes coupe late Thursday, police said.

McDougle opened the door and tried to get out of the car, but another robber fired two shots, which police said missed him and hit the inside of the door.

The robbers, who police said were likely teens, fled on foot and remain at large. It wasn’t clear whether McDougle was in his car or near it when he was approached, police said.

What this article didnt say is that McDougle was strapped too. He shot one of the dudes and now the police are waiting for someone to show up at the hospital with a bullet wound.

Edgerrin James still likes playing football. He just doesn’t like playing the games that come with it.

The three-time Pro Bowler and two-time NFL rushing champion said Thursday he was ready for another big season — even though he’d prefer to have a long-term contract with the Indianapolis Colts.

“I play football, that’s the easy part,” he said. “But after everything I’ve done and you fight back from an injury and it’s still not good enough, there’s nothing you can do. If you say something you get blasted. But I’m cool, everyone’s cool.”

James had hoped to cash in on last year’s big season as a free agent. Instead, the Colts placed the franchise tag on James, one of the key players in their high-scoring offense.

After rushing for 1,548 yards and nine touchdowns and catching 51 passes for 483 yards in 2004, Indianapolis offered him a one-year deal worth slightly more than $8 million. He signed the deal in March and James’ new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, then shopped him in trade talks as he sought a multiyear deal.

When Rosenhaus found no takers, some speculated James’ dissatisfaction could lead to a holdout. It didn’t. James sneaked into camp Wednesday and participated in the Colts’ first practice Thursday morning.

No, things didn’t go perfectly — James and two-time MVP Peyton Manning fumbled their first handoff.

Coach Tony Dungy said it happens on Day 1.

“You’re never quite as good as you want to be,” he said. “As a coach you want it to be perfect and, certainly, we were not perfect.”

The usually free-speaking James took a more cautious approach to questions Thursday.

HE avoided criticizing the Colts but expressed displeasure with a free-agency system that allows teams to retain top players by tagging them with either the franchise or transition designation. The tags guarantee players a big salary for one year but limits their options because most teams are unwilling to part with the two first-round picks required to sign a “franchise” player as compensation.

“Once I got tagged, I knew it was over,” James said. “You’ve just got to take it to the river and go from there.”

Regardless, James is ready to move on.

For those who think his career is winding down after six seasons, James has a message: He doesn’t turn 27 until next week, is as healthy and strong as he’s ever been and intends to take out his frustration on opposing defenses.

“I want to finish off my career strong,” he said. “To come back from what I went through and come back last year and have one my best years ever, you want to keep going. It’s the other game I have trouble with. I’ll figure it out one day.”

With Miami feeling hotter than New Delhi, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams had to feel right at home.

His actions, which led to his press conference, created the biggest buzz to hit South Florida since Shaquille O’Neal.

This is how big it was: Dolphins senior vice president/media relations Harvey Greene received an e-mail wishing him good luck with the press conference from none other than the King of Press Conferences, former White House press secretary Ari Fleisher.

Turned out Greene didn’t need the luck, and Fleisher probably would have been better off directing his e-mail missive at his successor, Scott McClellan.

But we digress. Back to Williams.

Some impressions stood out from the day’s events.

No. 1 — Williams, despite speculation, is not getting traded this season. No way. For starters, he will miss the first four games of the season due to an NFL suspension, and with the Dolphins having a bye in Week 4, Williams will get to play only one game before the trading deadline. Then there’s these other factors.

Williams is one strike away from a year-long ban. He’s coming off a lengthy hiatus on the other side of the world.

He has proven to be unreliable, and has little value to any other team this season — at least any value any team would be willing to surrender.

If the Titans traded a third-round pick for Travis Henry, and no team is willing to give up so much as a third- or fourth-round pick for Shaun Alexander, how are the Dolphins going to recoup anything of value for Williams this season? They can’t; not now.

Next season is a different story. But Williams will be spending this season in Miami, rehabbing his reputation, building back up his value, positioning himself and the Dolphins for a better deal in the future.

But not this season

No. 2 — The most overblown story in football, next to T.O.’s rants, was how the Dolphins players would react to Williams.

The short answer — just fine.

After Williams apologized to them at a team meeting July 24, he had begun the process of mending fences. Sounds like it already has worked.

“At first it was a little uncomfortable, but then once we started to talk, everything was fine after that,” Dolphins linebacker and team leader Zach Thomas said. “He did a great job putting himself out to the whole team. It was probably pretty hard for him to come out and apologize, but you could tell he wasn’t just doing it because somebody told him to do it. He did it coming from the heart. He was sincere and honest, and you felt him. He wasn’t just saying it to say it.

“I just told him to go out there and show he’s committed and work hard. That’s the type of player he is. He’s a hard worker. It’s still a distraction if you beat it up too much. He kept it simple, but he said everything right. He didn’t drag it out and he didn’t want to be a distraction. That’s the one thing he said. I thought he did a great job.”

Asked if Williams needs to do any more explaining, Thomas said: “No, no. It’s over. It was over before he even got here. You should get second chances. If he came in here and was like, ‘Hey, I did what I did and didn’t really feel sorry about it,’ it would be different, but he does. He feels bad about it. He put himself in a situation that he’s in. He was a man. He stood up and he talked about it. He told the whole team first. I thought he did a great job at it.”

Now Williams needs to go back to doing the great job he has done on the field. Because for the start of training camp, Dolphins coach Nick Saban listed Williams at the bottom of the depth chart.