When I asked about possibly buying time this season with players on one-year contracts, he replied, "I'm looking for us to be in a position where we put guys around me that we can win with for the long haul. And I'll wait until that happens."

And that's where this Allen Iverson discussion should end. Would Iverson help the Heat over the short run? Certainly. He would provide the offense the team so lacked in those first-round blowout losses to the Hawks.

But consider where that would leave the Heat, should it field a starting five with Iverson and Jermaine O'Neal: With a lineup of two prime contributors who would have to go if a true makeover were to be undertaken next summer.

It was one thing when Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant were summarily cast aside in the 2004 offseason for Shaquille O'Neal. None of those three knew they were out the door as soon as that magical run to the second round was over. They played as if there was a South Florida future.

But to go into a season asking the best of O'Neal and Iverson while also acknowledging there is little wiggle room for a return, what type of atmosphere would that create? Having one rental player is tough enough. But two? And with a second-year coach?

If Wade needs a stop-gap scorer for when he exits games, someone along the lines of Hawks free-agent guard Flip Murray might make more sense. Asking a journeyman role player to be a journeyman role player is a different story than asking a former All-Star to give his best and then get the heck out of the way. Times two.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

But now that appears to be changing, with the 76ers making clear that their free-agent negotiations with the veteran point guard are at a stalemate. Further, General Manager Ed Stefanski has acknowledged that a sign-and-trade agreement might be in the best interest of all parties.

For the Heat, that at least would open the door. But there are several reasons why the Heat might not be able to kick in that door. First, the Heat works best with a 3-point shooter paired with Dwyane Wade to space the floor, and Miller's long-range shooting long has been suspect. Then there is the issue of Miller, at 33, seeking a multiyear deal, after earning in excess of $10 million last season.

Beyond that, of course, is whether the Heat has the goods to make such a trade tempting to a conference rival. While the 76ers might, at one point, have been interested in Daequan Cook, they since have acquired Jason Kapono to upgrade their long-range shooting. As for Udonis Haslem, the return of Elton Brand and emergence of Marreese Speights hardly make power forward a priority for Philadelphia. As for expiring contracts, there is little need for such a move, with Miller already off the 76ers' books.

Still, a player who long has been untouchable for the Heat no longer appears to off limits. Now the issue is whether an aging point guard, one with limited outside ability is where the Heat wants to commit its future.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

But contrary to the prevailing pessimism, that doesn't mean there no longer are the means to make a big splash this summer, not when you're holding in excess of $40 million in expiring contracts.

Remember, free agency is just one part of the personnel process. There's still plenty of opportunities for trades, and plenty of teams looking to dump long-term salaries.

Here are two options that could provide one sound makeover.

Andrei Kirilenko: The Heat sends out the expiring contracts of Mark Blount, Dorell Wright, Chris Quinn and some type of filler (perhaps even Daequan Cook). The move would save the cap-conscious Jazz about $20 million over the next two seasons, which is significant as Utah looks for a way to re-sign Paul Millsap. If Utah needs more of a sweetener, the Heat could take C.J. Miles into its trade exception.

Michael Redd: The Heat sends out the expiring contract of Jermaine O'Neal for Redd and center Dan Gadzuric. The move would save the economically challenged Bucks more than $25 million over the next two seasons, with Redd hardly a favorite of coach Scott Skiles.

The upshot: The deals would require Dwyane Wade to move to point guard, but isn't that what he is anyway? It would leave a lineup of Wade and Redd in the starting backcourt, Kirilenko and Michael Beasley as the forwards, with a patchwork of Udonis Haslem, Gadzuric and perhaps Jamaal Magloire or Joel Anthony at center. It also would leave the Heat with James Jones and Mario Chalmers off the bench, as well as the full mid-level exception to spend on either a center or true point guard (or Allen Iverson). The Kirilenko-Beasley pairing could especially work, because it would allow Kirilenko to defend the prime scorer at either forward position and leave Beasley with the lesser challenge.

The long view: Foremost, such moves could put Wade in a better frame of mind about either extending or re-signing next summer. Even if Wade does leave as a free agent in 2010, Kirilenko, Redd and Gadzuric come off the books in the 2011 offseason, meaning the Heat, if needed, could jump into the free-agent game then, deferring the non-Wade plan of a 2010 splash by only a single year.

In summary: The point is not that this is the only answer, or even the best answer, but rather that viable options remain that could reload the Heat, even with its lack of cap space, most of the current top free agents accounted for, and a lack of an extension by Wade. While it could short-circuit any shot at LeBron James or Chris Bosh, it also would inject legitimate talent. 

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

Since then, anything short of a ring has come off as abject failure.

That's what makes this current predicament so perplexing.

The Heat is in steady-growth mode. It went from laughingstock two seasons ago to within a game of the Eastern Conference semifinals this past season. The mere growth of Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers should be enough this coming season to improve on last season's 43 victories.

But Wade wants more, because he's already had more. Over his first three seasons, his Heat teams won 33 playoff games. Over these past three, there have been only three more playoff wins.

He got a bite at the apple. He liked how it tasted.

Yet players also can make the worst general managers. When I asked him Monday if he truly thought that acquiring Antoine Walker and Jason Williams in the 2005 offseason would lead to a title, he laughed. When I asked if he thought adding Ricky Davis and Mark Blount in 2007 would lead to the bottom of the standings, he smiled again.

Sometimes, you don't know what you have until you see it on the court.

For as much as Dwyane is pushing for change, it's not as if he will know the impact of that change until he sees how it plays out in 2009-10.

Because of that, he should offer the same candor as Chris Bosh: That he cannot extend now because he simply doesn't know where this team is headed.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

He means, of course, it is one of the worst when extending it out the full five seasons. Generally, less-than-average players are signed to the mid-level, which is 108 percent of the league's average salary, currently about $5.5 million.

But the mid-level also can be extended for a single season. And in this summer's market, plenty of quality players might prove amenable to such a one-year deal, with far more cap space available around the league next summer.

What this first week of free agency has done is remove the top tier of free agents from the market, players such as Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Gordon, Jason Kidd and Charlie Villanueva, players who never were going to accept one-year deals in the first place.

But now, even in advance of Wednesday's opening of the signing period, there are signs that the one-year path might be the only alternative route for some of this offseason's veteran free agents.

To Riley's credit, he did well last summer splitting the mid-level among Mario Chalmers, James Jones and Yakhouba Diawara. Locking Chalmers into a three-year deal was brilliant. Getting Jones for only partially guaranteed money during the latter stages of the forward's deal was prudent.

 But luring a veteran talent for one-year at the mid-level might make more sense at this stage. The Heat already has plenty of supporting players.

The names certainly are there, options such as Shawn Marion (ah, sweet irony), Antonio McDyess, Andre Miller, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill (but no, no way Lamar Odom). There are others who certainly would not command the entire mid-level, but could be tempted for one year at a significant portion. There also is the $4.2 million trade exception the team holds, to deal either for a player already under contract, or a free agent who could become part of a sign-and-trade.

The cost? Two for one. In cash. With the Heat operating above the luxury tax, every dollar spent would also require a dollar sent to the league in luxury tax. But amid the current climate of concern, Micky Arison just might be swayed. After all, season tickets for 2009-10 remain very much available.

Arison certainly has spent over the years. And Riley has mostly kept the numbers down when the team has been down.

But this team needs a press conference to introduce more than Patrick Beverley. It needs someone at a podium to lift summer spirit.

A one-year free-agent deal would not get in the way of the Heat's Summer of 2010 plans. It would not be contingent on Dwyane Wade extending this summer. But it could have Wade feeling better about this coming season, just as LeBron is in Cleveland alongside Shaq and Chris Bosh is in Toronto alongside Turkoglu.

A limited engagement just might be needed if the Heat is to be wed to a brighter outlook.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

Through the opening days of free agency, while there might have been a feeling of being left out for the Heat, there was not much of a feeling of being left behind.

The gains by the Cavaliers and Magic merely kept those teams where they were, ahead of the Heat.

Detroit has made bold moves, but it hardly is guaranteed a playoff spot. Jason Kidd hasn't decided anything about New York. Chicago just lost Ben Gordon for nothing in return. Milwaukee is even weaker than last season after losing Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva.

The swap of forwards between the Lakers and Rockets, with Ron Artest off to Los Angeles and Trevor Ariza heading to Houston, was out of conference for the Heat, and therefore out of mind.

But Toronto's agreement with Hedo Turkoglu makes a team that finished behind the Heat in the East decidedly stronger, and that could impact the Heat on so many levels.

Foremost, there is another challenger for a playoff spot. Then there is the matter of a successful 2009-10 season potentially seducing Chris Bosh into either signing an extension or re-upping with the Raptors during 2010 free agency. And, of course, there is a first-round pick the Heat would get from the Raptors if Toronto makes the playoffs next season.

Of all those factors, the Bosh aspect might be most significant. Turkoglu is far more of a facilitator than Shawn Marion, the former Heat forward he replaces in the Raptors lineup. Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis certainly benefited from Turkoglu's presence in Orlando last season.

Of all the moves made so far, in advance of Wednesday's start of the free-agent signing period, this is one that has to get the Heat's attention. On so many levels.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

One of the benefits of the Heat's current roster is the enormity of its expiring contracts. O'Neal is on the books for $23 million for this coming season. Blount for $8 million. And it doesn't end there. Udonis Haslem is in the final year of a contract that pays $7.1 million for 2009-10. Dorell Wright is expiring at $2.9 million. Even Chris Quinn has a $1.1 million expiring deal.

Opposing general managers covet such deals. The problem is they are coveted in exchange for contracts that have additional years beyond 2009-10.

And that's the rub. Until the Heat gets a commitment from Dwyane Wade on an extension beyond this coming season, there is no long view, no ability to turn that $42 million of disappearing money into tangible long-term goods.

The league is loaded with long-term deals teams are looking to unload, such as the Richard Jefferson contract the Bucks sold off to the Spurs, or the Chris Kaman deal the Clippers might still be looking to strike, even with the Zach Randolph traded with the Grizzlies. Heck, the Pistons made such a dump last season with Chauncey Billups.

With very little damage to its current infrastructure, the Heat could turn O'Neal-Blount-Haslem-Wright-Quinn into everything from Kaman to Kirilenko to Kirk (Hinrich).

But nothing happens, none of it, until that puff of smoke rises from the House of Wade.

The shame for the Heat is there is no acute need to shop the 2010 free-agent market if Wade already is in place. There not only are ample outside contracts currently available for expiring deals, but the Heat then also would be in position to utilize its mid-level exception. And we've already seen how much that can garner.

The confluence of so many expiring deals could not have worked out better. But there only is a payoff if Wade first signs off.  

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

But it's not going to happen the first week of free-agent negotiations. It's not going to happen at the July 8 start of the free-agent signing period. And it's not going to happen until after the July 12 window opens for Dwyane Wade to be eligible to sign an extension.

Iverson makes sense because Iverson may not have many other options. But until the Knicks spend their mid-level exception, until Larry Brown gets an official rejection from Bobcats management, and until the remaining precious little cap space around the league is spent, Iverson doesn't have to move to Plan B.

With the Heat already into the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax, anything paid to Iverson will be doubled on the books next season. So even with a $2 million contract, is he worth $4 million at this stage?

Then there is the matter of the Heat being guided by a coach entering his second year. Has Erik Spoelstra done anything to deserve this?

With the Heat, an Iverson contract would be for one year. Is that what Iverson wants or needs at this stage? And is that what you want to add alongside the impressionable youth of Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and Daequan Cook?

Oh, Iverson could help. But as a reserve. Finding backcourt offense with Wade on the bench has been an ongoing concern. Yet this is the same Iverson who said coming off the bench was intolerable last season in Detroit. Considering how much Wade wants and needs the ball in his hands, an Iverson-Wade backcourt could involve plenty of drama.

So why are we talking about Iverson? Because, as a league source said, there aren't many options out there for Iverson.

Yes, he might come cheap. But perhaps that says plenty about where Iverson stands at this point in his career.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

At 27 and coming off a career year, does Wade want to sacrifice a prime year for another season of slow-go?

While there might never be another season like 2008-09 from a statistical standpoint for Wade, it is safe to say Dwyane is capable of about five or six seasons of such personal productivity.

Is he willing to surrender one while waiting to see if there is a better 2010 situation during free agency?

That, if I was Pat Riley, is what I would hammer home. Make it all about now. Now. Now.

The one thing about Riley is that when given the go-ahead, things happen. Shaq extended, suddenly James Posey, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and a championship appeared.

Yes, Dwyane has every right to watch and wait, just as LeBron and Bosh are prepared to do.

But he's never going to get 2009-10 back. And without a tangible Heat upgrade, he could be looking at a fourth consecutive season without advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)

For the Jazz, the decision by the veteran not to opt out was significant. In many ways, Utah is now stuck with an overpaid frontcourt, when also counting Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko, and facing a huge luxury-tax bill if Paul Millsap is retained as a free agent.

But Boozer's decision not to opt out resonated well beyond Salt Lake City.

For years, Boozer has been linked to the Heat, what with his friendship with the Arison family and his offseason residence in South Florida. The opportunity to land Boozer as a free agent this summer, however, was bypassed when the Heat elected to trade last February for Jermaine O'Neal, whose contract runs through this coming season.

Now, perhaps not so coincidentally, Boozer's contract will expire when O'Neal's cap-clogging money comes off the Heat's books.

Is Boozer a 2010 option for the Heat? There is little doubt he would like to be here. But unlike potential 2010 (or sooner) targets Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh, Boozer cannot swing over to center. He is solely a power forward, and a somewhat undersized one at that. So that creates redundancy issues with Michael Beasley.

But if Bosh and Stoudemire aren't there for the Heat in 2010 (or sooner), Boozer could well wind up as a Plan C. He not only won gold alongside Dwyane Wade at the Beijing Olympics, but took the same charter flight back to South Florida.

Had the Heat retained Shawn Marion last season and opened its cap space this summer, Boozer might not have been so quick to remain in Utah at his opt-out deadline.

Now, like so much around the league, he too becomes a 2010 issue. Only in this case, there are no doubts about the affection for South Florida.

            (Also, your Heat questions are answered regularly at Ask Ira!  and for Heat updates check out our Twitter feed.)