As the pool of available big men in free agency continues to shrink, the Heat was left Thursday to mull the possibilities of something truly gargantuan.

“It’s not a news bulletin that Shaq’s on the market,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “And we, like everybody else, are listening.”

Apparently, the Heat is listening intently, joined by the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks as teams making the biggest pushes for Shaquille O’Neal.

With the Lakers’ center demanding a trade, the Heat apparently has pushed virtually all its chips to the center of the table — with the exception of guard Dwyane Wade, seemingly its lone untouchable.

Although he attempted to downplay such trade talks, Riley, making his first appearance at the Pepsi Pro Summer League, did not discount the possibility.

In fact, amid an already wild offseason that has seen guards Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis trade places in Orlando and Houston, respectively, and Vince Carter push for a trade from Toronto, Riley said no prospect should be disregarded.

“I mean, Tracy McGrady got traded. He was on the market,” Riley said. “I’ve heard three or four other great-name players that are on the market, Shaq being one of ’em.

“You’ve got to pursue ’em. You’re foolish if you don’t try to pursue ’em and at least listen.”

The question now is the intensity of that dialogue. For example, Dallas still is said to be reluctant to include forward Dirk Nowitzki in its bid, with Indiana having similar reservations with center Jermaine O’Neal.

I personally would not like this deal to happen. Although I dont like Eddie Jones and I have no problem shipping Grant out of town, I dont think the Heat (Or Miami) needs a media whore like Shaq around. Yes, Miami needs a big man in the middle, all he would have to do is grab rebounds and block shots – and REALLY hustle. Shaq has been taking nights off for the past 2 seasons. In addition to the Heat needing a center they also need a backup point guard. Why they picked that high school kid INSTEAD of Jameer Nelson I’ll never know. Now Austin signed with Toronto… Pat Riley WTF man?!?!

The much-anticipated Wimbledon quarterfinal between defending champion Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati fell far short of its billing Wednesday, as Williams raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in 45 minutes. Thousands of fans were still filing into Center Court when the match ended.

Capriati held serve the first game, but then Williams won eight straight games to go up 6-1, 2-0, and never looked back. She won on a stretch forehand volley, one of the few points in which she had to exert herself. Williams’ semifinal opponent is Amelie Mauresmo of France, who beat Paola Suarez 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.

”When you play Jennifer, you’ve got to come out really strong,” said Williams, who had lost to Capriati their last two meetings. “Since I’ve been playing her, I’ve been trying to come out strong and I always seem to come out slow, so I wanted to come out smokin’.”

Capriati had no answers.

Capriati complained that she was distracted by the media hype surrounding the match.

Serena Williams waves to the crowd after defeating Spain’s Magui Serna in their Women’s Singles match on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Sunday, June 27, 2004.

A few stats on Serena. Born Sep. 26, 1981 in Saginaw, MI. She is 5’9″ and 130 pounds. Plays right handed. She is currently ranked 10th in the ATP standings. Her sister Venus is currently ranked 8th.

The Rockets and Magic have finalized a deal to send Tracy McGrady to Houston — provided none of the other principal names in the multi-player trade are selected in Tuesday’s expansion draft, ESPN’s Jim Gray reports.

The trade also includes Juwan Howard to Houston, while Orlando will get Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato in return. Of those five players, McGrady and Francis are protected and cannot be drafted by the Bobcats. If Charlotte passes on Howard, Mobley and Cato, then the deal is done, Gray reports.

To make the trade work financially under the salary-cap rules, the Magic would also send Tyronn Lue to Houston, reports ESPN’s David Aldridge. Andrew DeClercq may also be shipped to Houston.

Jeff Fried, Francis’ agent, told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson told him the trade was not complete but was close.

“I spoke to Carroll and it was not a done deal,” Fried told the paper. “It’s close. It’s subject to a few contingencies.”

The New York Times reported that the trade could not become official until July 15 due to a stipulation in Francis’ contract that makes him a base-year compensation player.

In the expansion draft (Tuesday, 7 ET), the Bobcats will select 14 players from existing NBA rosters. Few of those players are expected to wind up on Charlotte’s opening-night roster.