To recap:

• Atlanta wilts in Game 7 against the Celtics in the first round, opens a vacancy at general manager, has significant free-agent issues to resolve, and has offered no 2008-09 certainty about its coach.
• Washington could not defend its home court in the opening round against Cleveland, and now has Gilbert Arenas vowing to leave if Antawn Jamison is not also retained about a free agent. Oh, and the Wizards still don't play defense.
• And Orlando, for all its regular-season strides, wins one fewer game against Detroit in the second round than Philadelphia did against the Pistons in the opening round.

            Indeed, a case could be made that the greatest stride within the division this postseason was Charlotte adding Larry Brown as coach.

            No, no one is presuming the Heat as 2008-09 Southeast champion. But with 16 games against this lot next season, it is clear gains can be made from its vantage point in the cellar.

            Understand, if Riley never returned to coaching in December 2005, Van Gundy well could have found himself on a coach-for-life track with the Heat. Instead, he has revitalized the Magic, essentially established a target for Spoelstra to chase in the Southeast Division.

            Also understand that Van Gundy and Spoelstra are particular tight and would never dare cast themselves as rivals. Still, if you're looking for a Spoelstra measurement, Van Gundy well could be it.

            As for Van Gundy, the Detroit series will not define him. Instead, it is the fact that he now has driven each of his last three (and only three) teams at least to the conference semifinals. And that's not even counting the Heat team he got settled before Riley finished the drive to the 2006 NBA title.

            Asking Spoelstra to be the next Pat Riley is a bit much. Hoping he can become the next Stan Van Gundy would be a good place to start. The Heat allowed something special to get away. Now the hope is it can recapture the magic that the Magic captured.

            That means for a team trying to reinvent itself, there could be plenty for the Heat to grab hold of.

            No, not Allen Iverson. That just doesn't make sense at this stage. Marcus Camby? Again, age would be a factor.

            But Carmelo Anthony?

            No, not for one of the first two picks in the draft. Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley at rookie-scale contracts would deliver as good a value as any player in the league.

            But what if the Heat winds up at No. 3 or No. 4 in next week's lottery? What about that pick, plus the requisite contract to make such a deal work, say Shawn Marion or Udonis Haslem, players with the type of defensive grit the Nuggets might be seeking?

            Be warned, there are other issues, due to Anthony's salary-cap clauses. But we're also talking the type of talent the Heat might never realize on the 2009 or 2010 free-agent market.

            Still, by yielding No. 3 or No. 4 and Marion, what would be left beyond Anthony-Wade?

            Too much to consider? Seems that way. But Denver needs to change; the Heat already is changing.

            Should the Heat land the first pick, the thought remains that Derrick Rose is the choice. Yes, many scouts continue to point to Michael Beasley as the superior talent, but just about every team at the top of the lottery is in greater need of a point guard (which, perhaps, is the reason they're at the top of the lottery in the first place).

            At No. 2, the Heat would take the leftover between Rose and Beasley, who still would work out nicely. If the Celtics can make it work with Rajon Rondo at point guard with Garnett, Pierce and Allen, then the Heat could get by at the point with a second-tier talent alongside Beasley, Wade and Marion.

            At No. 3, the sense is Pat Riley might prefer Stanford center Brook Lopez, while others on his staff see a point guard of the future in Arizona's Jerryd Bayless.

            At No. 4, the lowest it could fall in the lottery, the Heat likely would take whichever player remains among Rose, Beasley, Lopez and Bayless.

            After consultation with scouts and other draft sources, the sense is the Heat could find value in both Lopez and Bayless, with center and point guard not only two of the most difficult positions to fill, but also two of need.

            Yes, Rose and Beasley, in some order, remain the Nos. 1 and 1A choices for the Heat. But Lopez and Bayless, at Nos. 2 and 2A, hardly should be considered booby prizes.

One NBA personnel official last week offered a look at his draft board, with the caveat that his comments were not for attribution and that his precise order not be listed.

"Just this morning I did my mock draft and I put (Derrick) Rose number one…

"I'll be honest about it, I'll be stunned if Miami doesn't take Rose."

The scout from an Eastern Conference team said he had Kansas State forward Michael Beasley going second after the Memphis guard, with Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless, Stanford center Brook Lopez and UCLA forward Kevin Love rounding out his first five.

"I personally am in the opinion that Bayless is going to be a big-time pro," he said. "He's way more of a point guard than people will give him credit for."

In his next group, the scout had Louisiana State forward Anthony Randolph, Southern Cal guard O.J. Mayo, Italian League forward Danilo Gallinari, Kansas forward Darrell Arthur, Syracuse forward Donte Greene, Texas guard D.J Augustin.

"Randolph would probably be my first player in that third tier," he said, perhaps overlooking Indiana guard Eric Gordon when listing that grouping.

Need more? We'll have it with an extensive lottery preview in Sunday's newspaper.

            To Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright, it was as if it was a preordained move, with the only issue being the timing of Riley's full-time move back to the front office.

            "From the time I've been here, he's probably been the most hands-on guy with the players," Haslem said of Spoelstra.  "He probably knows the players here inside-out better than anybody -- strengths and weaknesses, what guys need to work on."

            Of Riley stepping down, Haslem said, "I've been hearing stuff like since two years ago or last year, so you never know what's going to happen. Coach Riley is kind of a private person; he keeps his thoughts to himself."

            As for the issue of Spoelstra having never played in the league, Haslem said, "Spo's probably been one of the most intelligent guys that I've been around, knowing the game of basketball. Whether he played the game at the highest level or not, I know he has the knowledge to be an NBA coach. I can vouch for that."

            Wright seconded that notion.

            "I said when I first got here and I met Spo' and I knew his knowledge of the game, I knew he was going to be a head coach sooner or later," he said. "I didn’t know if it was going to be here. I just knew sooner or later he was going to be a coach, just because of his IQ of the game."

            With a decent amount of returning players -- Wright said he is 80-percent sure he'll be back as a free agent -- there is something to be said about the comfort level with Spoelstra, although Haslem did note that the support staff probably would go far easier against Spoelstra in pick-up games now that he is boss.

            Yet the fact that he is working with Michael Jordan's former trainer also speaks to how Wade still burns to be the best.

            These days, one has to figure there is plenty burning within.

            On one TV screen, Kobe Bryant is picking up his 2007-08 MVP award. On the other, LeBron James is making it a second year of playing far deeper into the season.

            The issue is whether Wade still sees himself in that light, at that level. By now, the frustration has to be significant.

            There are two directions to turn. One is an every-last-ounce push for redemption. The other is a Jason Taylor-like move into "personalityhood", if you will. That doesn't necessarily mean any less conviction to the objective at hand. But it could.

            As a champion, or at least former champion, Wade has every right to enjoy the spoils. But spoils also tend to carry expiration dates.

            Admittedly, it is difficult to maintain a development program while also keeping an eye on the top of the standings.

            Yet here stand the Pistons, not only up 2-0 on the Magic and apparently headed toward another berth in the Eastern Conference finals, but also doing it with a mix of younger players.

            Jason Maxiell? Taken with the No. 26 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, three spots ahead of where the Heat took Wayne Simien.

            Aaron Afflalo? Taken at No. 27 in last year's draft, six spots ahead of Daequan Cook.

            Rodney Stuckey? Taken at No. 15 last June, the type of first-round pick the Heat was not able to previously maximize with Dorell Wright.

            The point? The little moves can make a difference, and few have maximized them as well as Joe Dumars. Yes, Cook could prove to be a step in that right direction, but it’s also difficult to ignore the missteps.

            Seriously, though, since the Heat opted for an all-in-one coaching handoff from Pat Riley to Spoelstra, other names have emerged as possibilities for openings around the league.

            While judgment days for Spoelstra won't begin until November, and while this has the makings of being every bit as successful as the handoff to Stan Van Gundy, we offer a few thoughts on the what-ifs.

            Mike D'Antoni: Given the opportunity to speak with the Bulls and Knicks, D'Antoni might have been a hoot guiding Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Dorell Wright & Co. Except, bridges already have been burned with Marion, and Riley would have broken all the glass in his bay-view office after about three defenseless performances.

            Avery Johnson: Don't discount this having had a chance to succeed. Johnson's respect for Riley is such that it could have been an interesting mix of new breed and old school. Johnson's regular-season perseverance might have been just what the Heat needed.

            Mark Jackson: Still don't get this one. Perhaps it allows the Knicks to buy time until the roster shakes out, but for those who question Spoelstra's lack of experience as a head coach, what about someone with no coaching experience at all, like Jackson?

            Sam Mitchell: Like D'Antoni, he still has a job for now, but Mitchell could be on shaky ground in Toronto. Like Johnson, there is ample respect for Riley to have made the situation work. He would have been an interesting sideline presence. The fire of a Mitchell or Johnson might have made an interesting contrast to a burned-out Riley.

            Rick Carlisle: Not sure the personality could have meshed with Riley. In some ways, you only rent Carlisle, before the personality clashes begin. But the body of work is that of someone who gets instant results.

            That's what makes last week's introduction of Erik Spoelstra as coach so interesting.

            In virtually every comment about the direction he would like to take the team, Spoelstra has mentioned the athleticism of Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion and, yes, Wright.

            As a bit of background: One of the points of contention between Stan Van Gundy and Pat Riley when Van Gundy was coaching was Riley's displeasure over the lack of minutes for Wright.

            Riley, of course, then took over and barely utilized Wright on the way to the 2006 title.

            Last summer, though, Riley used the potential of Wright as a reason for the lack of activity in the free-agent market at small forward. That approach, which included the free-agent losses of James Posey and Jason Kapono, ultimately backfired.

            So here stands Spoelstra, first needing to know if Wright even will be back as a restricted free agent. But there also stands Riley, who seemingly has better use for Wright when he's not coaching.

            It will be an interesting dance, considering there has yet to be anything close to be a breakthrough by Wright.