By Ira Winderman/Sun Sentinel


Two weeks ago, it took more than a game programme to figure out exactly who those guys were when the Philadelphia 76ers visited the Miami Heat. Last Monday, it was difficult to single out a definitive leading man when the Boston Celtics arrived at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Yet what Miami Heat fans soon may be seeing from those teams is the future of the NBA. Not because of any particular developmental programme in place, but because of what could be developed through future drafts. And that casts the 76ers and Celtics as almost polar opposites of the Miami Heat, a team that essentially has traded away most of its future drafts as a means of seizing this moment.
It was just last May that luck of the lottery allowed the Heat to retain their No. 10 pick and solidify their current roster with the selection of Justise Winslow.
But because of what’s currently in place, and because of what had been in place during the Big Three era, there likely won’t be many more Winslows coming through that door over the next decade.
The Heat’s 2016 first-round pick, which again will be Top 10 protected, almost assuredly will go to the 76ers in June.
 Then, in 2018, the first of the two first-round picks will be due to the Phoenix Suns for Goran Dragic, with a 2021 first-round pick to follow. Because teams cannot deal consecutive future first-round picks, even the Heat’s remaining first-round picks in the interim cannot be utilised as currency.
The second-round outlook is similarly barren, with four of the Heat’s next five second-round picks owed elsewhere to complete previous trades.
Which brings us to the Celtics and 76ers, who gutted their cores while the Heat still were playing for championships.
Start with the Celtics, who divested a Big Three of their own after the pairing of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen had run its course, with even the coach of that team, Doc Rivers, netting a future first-round pick.
Not only do the Celtics hold their own pick in June’s draft, but also an unprotected 2016 first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets, which is setting up as lottery gold. In addition, Boston also holds lottery-protected 2016 first-round picks from the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Moving forward through 2021, the Celtics also are due first-round picks from the Memphis Grizzlies and Nets again, as well as the right to swap places in a future first round with the Nets, along with numerous incoming second-round picks through 2020.
As for the 76ers, not only are they sitting on the rights of European standout Dario Saric and holding the Heat’s protected 2016 first-round pick, but also in June would get the Los Angeles Lakers’ first round pick if it is not among the first three selections, and a protected first-round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And that’s not even getting into a future first-round pick owed from the Sacramento Kings and 10 second-round picks due from other teams through 2021.
Of course, a buffet of first-round picks guarantees nothing. The Celtics turned three picks within the first 33 last June into Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter and Jordan Mickey, none of whom had an impact in the Celtics’ Monday victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.
But what the Heat saw two weeks ago against the 76ers and this past week against the Celtics are holding-pattern franchises that stand as draft-hoarding Petri dishes in this age of expanding salary caps and NBA free-agency, litmus tests on ongoing value of stockpiling draft picks.