Dorell Wright will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his left knee. That’s really a shame because Wright was finally starting to live up to his potential. He played in 43 games (33 starts) this season for the Heat and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He shot 48.6% from the floor and 82.1% from the free throw line. Ricky Davis will likely pick the minutes up that Wright used to get. Davis has played in 57 games (24 starts) this season and he is averaging 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

The Miami Heat have lost center Shaquille O’Neal indefinately with a hip injury. The Deisel is starting to slow down at his advancing age but he still is one of the better centers in the NBA. He has played in 32 games (all starts) this season for the Heat and he is averaging 28.5 minutes, 14.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.7 blocked shots. Shaq is shooting 58.1% from the floor but only 48.2% from the free throw line. Veteran Mark Blount will replace Shaq in the starting lineup and he is a decent center. He has played in 29 games (8 starts) this season for the Heat and he is averaging 17.3 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Like Shaq, Blount is a good shooter from the floor (50.3%) but he’s a poor free throw shooter (57.1%).

Alonzo Mourning will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his knee. The injury might force him to retire and that would be a sad way for the warrior to have to leave the game. Mourning played in 24 games this season and he averaged 16.0 minutes, 6.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. The Heat will miss Mourning’s leadership and burning desire to win the rest of this season.

The Miami Heat have signed 2nd year forward Alexander Johnson to a 2-year, $1.5 million dollar contract.  The 6′9″, 240 pound Johnson played in 59 games (19 starts) as a rookie last season for the Memphis Grizzlies and he averaged 12.8 minutes, 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He shot 53.8% from the floor but most of the shots were from close range and he made 66.1% of his free throws.  Look for Johnson to back up Udonis Haslem unless the Heat him before the season starts making either Johnson or Wayne Simien the starting power forward for 2007-08.

The Miami Heat have signed Anfernee Hardaway to a 1-year contract.  Hardaway was last seen playing in 4 games during the 2005-2006 season with the New York Knicks so it will be interesting to see if he has anything left in the tank or not.  He will likely slide into Eddie Jones role of last season off of the bench if he makes the team.  Penny Hardaway has had a long, good NBA career.  He has played in 688 games (549 starts) and he has averaged 34 minutes, 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  He also has shot pretty well as he has hit 45.8% from the floor, 31.5% from three point range and 77.4% from the free throw line.  You know this move had to please Shaq as he and Hardaway played together with the Orlando Magic in their younger days.