Shift in NBA calendar means trades soon could be brewing

players could shake free elsewhere around the league, possibly leading to roster reshuffling.

This is the conclusion of the first half of the NBA schedule, which will allow the league to recalibrate for any games postponed by the pandemic over the season’s first 2 months.

The Heat’s Jan. 10 game in Boston, postponed due to contact tracing, falls into that category.

The league is terming this as the “NBA All-Star break,” with currently no plans to stage such an event.

It is possible games postponed over the first half of the season could be scheduled here.

Not a league deadline, but this is when the Heat’s $7.6 million trade exception expires from last season’s trade of James Johnson to the Memphis Grizzlies (who then forwarded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves).

The exception can only be used in a trade and cannot be aggregated with another salary or another exception for a player who makes more than that amount.

NBA trade dead

line.

The Heat at last season’s deadline acquired Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill in exchange for Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and Johnson.

The Heat’s lone trade at the 2019 was the salary-cap dump of Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Ryan Anderson, whose contract subsequently was waived and stretched.

At the 2018 deadline, the Heat reacquired Dwyane Wade and Luke Babbitt.

The NBA buyout deadline for playoff eligibility with another team typically is three weeks after the trade deadline, on March 1. This season, it has been pushed back.

The Heat have not utilized the buyout deadline in recent years, although in 2016 they bolstered the playoff roster with Dorell Wright.

Heat President Pat Riley soon could be pointing to the calendar for transactional timing. So what’s it like testing positive for COVID-19 in the NBA? The Boston Celtics’ Robert Williams, who received such a result following his team’s Jan. 7 at AmericanAirlines Arena explained. “I found out late one night, landing [after the game in Miami],”he said. “And it just went from there as far as the quarantining and stuff and staying away from the team, which was a difficult time for me, I’m not going to lie.”A cardiac test followed, as did practice time. Williams is now back in the mix for the Celtics, after two weeks away from games. “The test, it had me down a little bit, flu symptoms,”he said. Williams played 14 minutes that night in the victory over the Heat. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra long has expressed a fondness for canines, and now is particularly intrigued by the COVID-detection dogs the team plans to utilize to screen fans at upcoming home games.“The dogs? The more we can explore anything for early detection and make it available to as many people as possible, helps,” he said.“I’d love to have my dog, my nine-pound dog, learn how to do that.” Chris Paul’s thoughts on getting to work with former Heat forward Jae Crowder with the Phoenix Suns?“Jae a dog,”Paul told TNT during a televised interview.“He a dog, man. One of the guys. It’s a lot of guys in this league that you play against him, you compete against at times, and sometimes you hate‘em. You just can’t stand. But Jae is one of the guys I’ve always respected. I respected the way he approached the game. And I’m grateful and thankful that I get the chance to call him a teammate now.”Crowder, nonetheless, recently lost his starting role in Phoenix to Cam Johnson.