Shaquille O'Neal will make his much-anticipated debut for the Phoenix Suns against his old team, the Los Angeles Lakers, in Phoenix today. The future Hall of Fame big man was acquired from the Miami Heat on February 6 in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks but has been sidelined since January 21 with a hip injury.

O'Neal is expected to play limited minutes at first for his new team, which has a 37-16 record and is percentage points behind the New Orleans Hornets for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Eight-times All-Star point guard Jason Kidd returned to Dallas this week when the Mavericks completed an eight-player trade with the New Jersey Nets.

The Mavericks said they had parted with Devin Harris, Gana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn, two draft picks and money to acquire Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright from New Jersey.

The NBA is to go outdoors with a pre-season game played at the Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. The 16,000-seater venue will host the Denver Nuggets against the Phoenix Suns on October 11. It is over 35 years since the NBA last experimented with an outdoor game.

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