I, Daniel Miller, am giving up my sports writing duties at The Falcon to take a job as the general manager of a team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

I may not have the credentials of other, more accomplished scouts and businessmen, but I know I could pull off better deals than some of the recent trades in the league. While there's nothing open right now, I have confidence that a position will open up soon.

I came to the decision to quit my current post and pursue management opportunities when the Miami Heat sent Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks last week. If Phoenix management is inept enough to make this trade, then there must be a place for people like me in this franchise.

Let's get this straight. Shaq is 36 years old with a list of injuries over the past couple seasons few could rival. There's also the horrendous contract the Suns inherit: Shaq is scheduled to make $20 million for the next three seasons, one of the NBA's highest salaries, for a measly 15 points and eight rebounds a night.

After a Sunday loss to Detroit, the Suns are 1-2 since Shaq took the court. On the plus side, the big man is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game with Phoenix--and putting up only 8.7 points per night for one of the league's highest scoring teams.

He's a one-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time champion and now an immobile, overweight, injury-prone, overpaid, outspoken former superstar, coming over from a team that lost 19 of 20 games and had a league-worst 9-37 record with him manning the post.

Great work here by Phoenix GM Steve Kerr. Shaq should fit right into his run-and-gun, shoot-before-seven-seconds-runs-off-the-shot-clock offense--if he's healthy enough to stay on the court for long.

Plus, it's not as if they were trading someone insignificant to get him. Marion struggled through much of this year, but the swingman remains one of the NBA's most athletic and unique players. He can guard any player on the court and regularly posts double-digit rebounding at the small forward position.

"I'm well aware that I'm on the line," Kerr told the Associated Press. "That's my job. That's why I'm sitting in this seat. I'm comfortable with the decision. I think it gives us a better chance to win, and a better chance to win in the playoffs."

Kerr must not have watched Shaq play this year because if he had, he would have seen the immense decline in O'Neal's abilities. He missed the all-star team for the first time in 14 years this season.

With one move, the Heat escaped the burden of Shaq's decline, picked up a superstar to complement Dwayne Wade and gained more financial flexibility to sign free agents in off-seasons ahead.

"I do believe we showed Shaq a tremendous amount of respect by sending him to a contender, probably the top contender in the Western Conference, and he's going to flourish there, he will help them," Heat head coach and GM Pat Riley said, grinning (and perhaps lying) through his teeth.

Even if the Phoenix job doesn't work out, there are other potential openings in the NBA.

Center Pau Gasol just departed Memphis after seven seasons as the Grizzlies' all-time leader in most statistical categories. He was the only all-star in club history and by far the best and most tradable player on the roster.

Normally in NBA trades, there's a sense of give-and-take, but to acquire Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers did not have to give up any of the top 10 players on their roster. They lost former No. 1 draft pick Kwame "Royal Bust" Brown, rookie point guard Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks.

Let me repeat that for emphasis: L.A. added a superstar and gave up virtually nothing.

Maybe since the Grizzlies are so far out of the playoff race, they were rooting for the Lakers and felt they could help push them over the top. If I tried to pull this trade in a video game, I'm sure it would be blocked. The league should have veto power to prevent GMs from making such poor decisions.

Surely Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace could have fetched more in return for the big Spaniard, as San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan and others have wondered aloud.

However, the general manager position most likely to be vacated soon is the spot currently held by Kevin McHale of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

For the past couple years, his superstar Kevin Garnett languished in the Twin Cities with a terrible supporting cast. McHale entertained quite a few trade offers during that time.

Like Wallace, the only plausible explanation for the trade he eventually made is that McHale must have been rooting for another team. McHale is a former Boston Celtics star after all.

Minnesota basically received Boston's roster from last year as compensation, getting forwards Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff, two first-round draft picks and cash considerations. It's a poo poo platter of expiring contracts and failed experiments plus Jefferson, who is a budding double-double machine down low, likely banished to obscurity for the near future.

To top it off, the Wolves added Antoine Walker from the Heat, a player known for his moodiness and poor shot selection. Minnesota now has the league's second worst record and a handful of misfits on its roster while Boston is a league-best 43-12.

On the bright side, there is a world of opportunity for me (and maybe you too) to be general managers in the NBA sooner than we ever could have imagined. Keep up the great work, Steve, Chris, and Kevin. Each day you're on the job offers real promise for my managerial future.