MIAMI _ You will not find Dec. 15 delineated on any official list of NBA key dates as the de facto start of trade season.
But in a league annually reshaped by free agency, it effectively stands as the beginning of open season on the personnel market, for one particular reason: players signed in the offseason cannot be traded until Dec. 15, at the earliest.
What the rule does is allow players to settle in if there is a change of address and afford teams the opportunity to test drive their new contracts before any rash decisions.
Which leads to this season's Miami Heat, and the uneven showing to this stage after significant offseason free-agent contracts extended to James Johnson, Dion Waiters and Kelly Olynyk.
Dec. 15 marks the first time any of those three can be put in play.
But history, at least the Heat's history, also says otherwise.
For all the dealing Pat Riley has done over his two-plus decades with the Heat, and even dating to the inception of the franchise 30 years ago, the Heat have never made a trade in December. Ever.
Had there been such impulsiveness a year ago amid the 11-30 start, there likely would not have been the 30-11 revival over the second half of the schedule.
There is at least one difference this time around, though.
Unlike last season, when the Heat held their own first-round pick and knew they could bolster, if needed, through that process, the Heat's 2018 first-round pick goes to the Phoenix Suns unless it is among the first seven selections (in which case their 2019 first-round pick goes unprotected to the Suns, in addition to the 2021 unprotected first-rounder for the 2015 acquisition of Goran Dragic).
In addition, there are a few arcane rules in play, such as not being allowed to trade Josh Richardson until after the season because of his extension and only being able to trade Udonis Haslem with his permission.
What is likely to matter more than Dec. 15 is the 3 p.m. Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline. Still, the door at least is about to crack open in less than two weeks.
So where does the Heat roster stand on what could be the eve of trade season? Here's where:
