Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: On receiving a $3.3 million salary-cap exception in last summer's Tim Hardaway trade with Dallas, Heat coach Pat Riley said the extra maneuverability could come in handy at the trade deadline.

Now, with the deadline two days away, Riley admitted it is growing more and more likely that the traded-player exception will go unspent.

While the Heat has until Aug. 22, one year from Hardaway's shift to the Mavericks, to use the slot in a trade, the value of the exception will be overshadowed during this summer's trading period. That's when the Heat also will have a $4.5 million midlevel exception and a $1.4 million exception.

"Unless it's used now, it won't have as much value," Riley said. "I'm not going to use it just for the sake of using it. I'm not going to get caught with the threat of the luxury tax."

With many teams having spent their salary-cap exceptions for this season, there was thought at the time of the Hardaway trade that the $3.3 million slot could provide a conduit for a multi-team deal closer to Thursday's 6 p.m. deadline.

That has not proved to be the case.

"There isn't anybody out there that is worth the exception right now," Riley said. "But if there can be a trade into it that's worthwhile, we'd consider it."

After a flurry of deals at the midseason deadline early in Riley's tenure -- trades involving players such as Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn and Isaac Austin -- the Heat has been quiet at the deadline for three years.

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Miami Heat

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