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Considering that the Miami Heat are defending their NBA title with a roster highly similar to last season's, it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that they're not likely to shake things up much before this season's Feb. 21 trade deadline.
When your team has a core of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, trades tend to be mostly ancillary efforts to support a more significant core that's already in place. Considering that pieces like Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem seem to fit well with that core, inactivity is likely.
Despite a past penchant for big midseason trades, Heat president Pat Riley has shied away from making major moves before the trade deadline since putting together the James-Wade-Bosh core, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
That leaves the team with a few minor pieces that might still be in play during trade talks, such as Joel Anthony, Mike Miller and the Philadelphia 76ers' 2013 first round draft selection, though that draft pick is only Miami's if the Sixers manage to make the postseason.
One target might be Spurs big man DeJuan Blair given that he could fill the role as, "a do-everything big man who can adequately replace a regressing Udonis Haslem," in the words of SB Nation's Heat blog, Hot Hot Hoops.
A deal that allows the Heat to move around some money might happen, but for the most part, it appears this is the roster the franchise plans to go to battle with this postseason. Hard to blame them after it worked last time around.