MIAMI - Shaquille O'Neal's first game with the Miami Heat is 3½ months away, and he's already a box office smash.

"Over at the business office of the AmericanAirlines Arena, it's like being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange right now," Heat president Pat Riley said. "It's absolutely a frenzy."

The Heat didn't need long to reap dividends from one of the most landscape-altering trades in NBA history. In a deal completed Wednesday, they sent a first-round draft pick and three starters - Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and Brian Grant - to the Los Angeles Lakers for a 32-year-old center with an arthritic big toe.

That would be O'Neal.

"I never imagined that we would acquire Shaquille O'Neal," Heat guard Eddie Jones said. "It's once-in-a-lifetime trying to get a player like this guy. It's an unbelievable, unbelievable move."

At 7-feet-1 and 340 pounds, O'Neal remains the most formidable force in the game, despite being slowed at times by foot and leg ailments. Even in Los Angeles, a city of celebrities, he was a towering presence while leading the team to three NBA titles during his eight seasons there.

"It's certainly a disappointing day in a lot of ways in Los Angeles. I can't deny that," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "He's had an impact in so many ways on the franchise and the city."

In contrast to the glum mood in Los Angeles, fueled in part by uncertainty over Kobe Bryant's status, was Miami's reaction to the deal.

"We feel that we have traded for the best player in the NBA," Riley said.

Shortly after the Lakers lost the championship series to Detroit, O'Neal demanded to be traded, weary of feuding with Bryant and feeling disrespected by owner Jerry Buss. O'Neal listed the Heat as one of his preferred destinations and gave the trade his approval after meeting with Riley in Orlando on Saturday.

"I wanted to go to another contender," O'Neal said. "And Miami is definitely another contender. With me now, it makes us even more of a contender. I'm looking to do great things with the Heat."

O'Neal immediately transforms a franchise that has reached the conference finals only once in its 16-year history into a title threat. The Heat won one playoff series in the past four years and went 42-40 last season.

The trade marks a return to Florida for O'Neal, who began his NBA career in 1992 with Orlando and still has a home there. He led the Magic to the finals in 1995, then signed with the Lakers as a free agent in 1996.

O'Neal has the highest career scoring average among active players and is an 11-time All-NBA selection.

"You can't replace a Shaquille O'Neal," Kupchak said.

He's under contract for $27.7 million this coming season and $30.6 million in 2005-06. Riley said he expects to negotiate an extension, and O'Neal said he anticipates playing another five or six years.

"We feel like Shaquille is going to be a part of this organization for a long time," Riley said.

For the Lakers, the biggest consolation in the deal is acquiring the versatile Odom, coming off the best season in his five-year NBA career. He and Butler were considered cornerstones in the Heat's recent rebuilding effort, while Grant is a 10-year veteran.

"It's a bold move to get younger and change our style of play," Kupchak said.

With the departure of three starters, Riley will build his team around O'Neal, Jones and Olympian Dwyane Wade, a rookie last season. O'Neal said Wade was a major reason he wanted to join the Heat.

"He's going to be a great player," O'Neal said. "I look forward to making D-Wade a starting All-Star this year and the number one guard in the Eastern Conference."

Riley will now shop for help at both forward positions and backup point guard, and free agents will likely consider Miami a more appealing option with the addition of O'Neal.

"Everybody wants to be here now," Jones said. "It puts us right there in the race with everybody for the championship."

AP-ES-07-15-04 0132EDT