Winning, apparently, doesn't solve everything after all.

In fact, the Heat's winning ways of late have placed the team in quite a pickle this week, with Thursday's trade deadline approaching.

Back when the Heat were 5-23 and nowhere near the post-season, it seemed that trading either Brian Grant or Eddie Jones to give the team room to maneuver the next two seasons made sense.

The team was, and still is, looking to 2003 as its opportunity to land big-name free agents because Alonzo Mourning's contract expires that year, putting the Heat under the salary cap. So why not rid themselves of one or both of their longest contracts and basically start from scratch? The team wasn't winning anyway, right?

There's a lot more to consider now.

Miami has gone 15-6 since that 5-23 start and is making what looks like a legitimate push toward the playoffs. Trading either Grant or Jones would no longer be looked at as just shrewd financial moves for the future.

Trading either one of them (for, say, Dallas' Juwan Howard, who is in the final year of his contract) would essentially send the message that all the effort put in to improve during the last few months has meant nothing. Heat coach Pat Riley is trying to convince anyone who listens that the Eastern Conference is wide open and the Heat, should they make the playoffs, have as good a chance as anyone. But if a trade is made solely for future financial concerns, it would look like Riley doesn't believe his own words.

On the other hand, should the Heat put off plans for the future just for one more trip to the playoffs? Riley is trying to make his team the NBA's version of the New England Patriots, but should the Heat season end without a championship, as everyone expects, will Riley look back and regret not making a move?

Riley, when recently asked about his team's position as the trade deadline approaches, sounds like a coach who is not looking past the next game, much less toward next season.

"I just hope we continue to win so Thursday we don't have to make any kind of decisions," Riley said, meaning he wants to make this season a success and leave next season's planning for the off-season.

One scenario that would give the Heat the best of both worlds is engineering a deal that would send Grant to Denver for Nuggets big man Raef LaFrentz. LaFrentz will be a restricted free agent after this season, giving the Heat some financial relief.

And Riley could also reason with his players, convincing them that LaFrentz, a 6-11 shot-blocker with better shooting range than Grant, is an improvement and helps this season's cause.

Any such deal would be difficult, however, given the difference in salary between LaFrentz, who still is on a rookie contract, and Grant. Denver also has already received more attractive offers from other teams.

"I haven't thought about Thursday," Riley said. "I don't know if there's any one thing out there that you can do. I read all the rumors, but we're not heavily involved in anything."

It seems Riley has a one-track mind these days, anyway. Having won its first two games coming out of the All-Star break, the Heat coach is convinced his team can still make some noise in the East.

That's essentially all the team was looking to do coming into this season. With no moves likely, it seems next season will be the same scenario.