With Anthony Carter officially listed by the NBA as a free agent, and with the Heat therefore relieved of the guard's $4.1 million salary for next season, the next question is the direction Pat Riley's team will take.

With Carter having forfeited the option year on his contract by missing the June 30 deadline to commit for 2003-04, the Heat could clear as much as $11 million in salary-cap space this summer.

That had the NBA taking notice Friday.

"It puts them in a great spot," Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said via e-mail. "I don't know if it has a trickle-down effect, because I don't expect there to be any bidding wars. There are more good players than there is cap room available."

Until Carter appeared on the NBA's official free-agent list Tuesday, the league had considered the Heat a secondary player in free agency, one with little more salary-cap room than the $4.8 million mid-level exception awarded to each of the NBA's 29 teams. Now, the Heat has moved to the forefront in a market that has Nets guard Jason Kidd, Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas and Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal among the top prizes.

"[It puts] Coach Riley in a great spot," Cuban said.

It also puts Riley and his front-office staff on the spot.