The Heat surprised no one by not making a trade Thursday in the hours leading up to the NBA deadline, ending some tense moments for several players unsure of their immediate futures.

And on a day when many teams considered giving up draft picks in potential trades, Heat coach Pat Riley said he wanted to preserve this summer's first-round pick and those over the next few seasons.

This comes from a coach who had only two first-round picks in six Heat drafts.

''I haven't heard anything major, but there are a number of players that are in the middle that are available for picks and stuff like that,'' Riley said prior to the 6 p.m. deadline.

``It depends on whether or not you want to take on some money. Some of them that are in play are actually good deals.''

A handful of players today have new addresses, though.

Among them is former Heat point guard Tim Hardaway, traded from Dallas to Denver with Juwan Howard and former Florida Gator Donnell Harvey in exchange for Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad.

The deal essentially makes Hardaway, who spent the past 5 ½ seasons with the Heat, the Nuggets' starting point guard after playing in a reserve role with Dallas.

Van Exel finally got the ticket out of Denver he sought after the Nuggets engaged in serious talks with several teams, including the Heat. Hardaway will be reunited with former Heat guard Voshon Lenard in Denver, two players who loathed each other during their days on some of Miami's best teams.

By and large, Thursday was a quiet day. Much of the inactivity can be attributed to teams' reluctance to add lucrative, long-term salaries to their payrolls.

Heat forward Brian Grant met those criteria, and was not dealt.

Also sitting on the bubble were forward Chris Gatling and guard Anthony Carter, two Heat players believed to have been available.

Riley's plans to hold onto draft picks goes against his history of often packaging them in trades. If the Heat misses the playoffs this season and winds up in the draft lottery, this summer's pick could be valuable.

The Heat has drafted only two first-rounders under Riley, Charles Smith and Tim James. Last summer's pick was sent to Cleveland in the three-way, sign-and-trade deal for Grant in the summer of 2000. In last year's draft, the 20th pick was Washington's Brendan Haywood, now the Wizards' backup center.

The Heat also could have acquired point guards Tony Parker of San Antonio or Jamaal Tinsley of Indiana, both starters chosen after No. 20 last year.

Riley intends to give himself some options in the draft this year.

''We would not surrender [the pick] unless we felt that it would have to go for a certain player,'' Riley said.

``We're going to keep that pick. We're going to keep it the next three years unless it has to do with securing a star.''

Because four of Riley's six Heat drafts have seen Miami's first pick come in the second round, his success has been somewhat average.

Of the eight picks, only four remain in the NBA -- Smith, Rodney Buford, Eddie House and Ernest Brown.

• Upset with his team's lackluster performance in Wednesday's 81-71 loss to the Clippers, Riley put the Heat through an extended film session, then questioned the production of his starters after an intense practice.

''Four of our five starters, over the last five games, efforts have plummeted,'' Riley said. ``Their effort and defense has plummeted . . . and we need to get more out of them. We could have won the game shooting 33 percent if we'd have done the things in the effort area that make the difference when you can't shoot the ball.''

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