MIAMI — Losing provides no rewards, but reality can. That makes this a December the Miami Heat should remember.

Because sometimes objects aren’t closer than they appear, such as the early-season notion of Erik Spoelstra’s team being in the thick of the Eastern Conference race.

That clearly stands as the province of the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.

Then there are the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, who refuse to go away, injury absences be damned.

And assuredly to rise from the early-season ashes are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic, with rosters too talented to remain mired.

So where does that leave the Heat? In real estate that might as well stand for them as rent-to-own, seemingly fated for a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in round, right there with their play-in partners, the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.

Which means a needed eye toward the future, even with the franchise mantra of living in the moment.

Because what this team can’t do is become solely locked into this, a roster talented enough to surge, but also limited enough to slump.

So when in doubt … trade it out.

Starting with Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell.

Faced with the possibility of losing both in free agency for nothing in return, the time to be proactive is now.

Yes, there also is the option of locking Powell into an extension. But the payoff at the moment simply hasn’t been fully convincing enough.

So lock in a 32-year-old for multiple years going forward? Or acquire draft capital for potentially something bigger?

Similarly, Wiggins has done nothing wrong in his brief Heat tenure to be forced out the door. But he also holds a player option for next season, and therefore could walk out that door on his own.

Be proactive. Wiggins can offer plenty as a glue guy on a contender (Hello, Lakers?). The Heat are not a contender (See: Pistons, Knicks above).

So you start with Powell and Wiggins in a search for draft capital by the Feb. 5 NBA trading deadline.

So why not Tyler Herro, as well?

Here’s why: For all the talk of extensions, including the Herro window that closed in October and the one that re-opens in July, Herro remains under contract through 2026-27 (earning $33 million that season).

So you play that out. Maybe next season is full attendance. Perhaps next season reclaims the value to All-Star status. Unlike with Powell and Wiggins, Herro’s is not a contract coming to an end at season’s end.

Similarly — for those who insist on ultimate drama — Bam Adebayo is under contract through 2028-29. There is time to evaluate in that regard, no need for a rush to judgement by the trade deadline.

Had 14-7 grown into something even more substantial for the Heat, it would have made all the aforementioned less likely and perhaps unnecessary.

But it didn’t.

That hurt in the standings.

That hurt when it came to immediate optimism.

But it also got the Heat back to a place they probably needed to be in the first place: Taking a longer view.

If last July’s trade for Powell can prove to be a draft-pick bridge to the future, it would prove as profitable as it stood when the cost last summer merely was, with all due respect, Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson.

If going from Jimmy Butler to Andrew Wiggins to a draft-pick bridge to the future (along with Davion Mitchell), then last February’s Butler deal also would have served its purpose.

The Knicks are good. They showed the Heat as much last weekend, when no less than Spoelstra raved, “What you have to respect about the Knicks, you have to put them away every single possession. You can’t leave anything to f-ing chance with that team ever. That’s what they do. What they have is a will to win.”

Spoelstra added, “That’s what we are developing. We are going to get there.”

And there is a bridge to that, just as there could be toward eventually matching up with the abundant youth of the Pistons.

But it likely will take short-term pain.

Perhaps for Powell.

Perhaps for Wiggins.

Such could be, perhaps should be, the cost for long-term gain.

IN THE LANE

ROZIER REALITY: As much as the Heat are being pinched by the NBA with Terry Rozier, considering that while outside teams at the moment have no idea if the league will allow the Heat to deal Rozier’s expiring $26.6 million salary, there is a similar expiring contract out there for the taking for teams looking to move off longer-term money — the expiring $27.7 million of nominally utilized Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons. While Celtics President Brad Stevens is saying all the right things about Simons, all that needs to be said is there is no gambling scandal attached, nor the uncertainty of a Rozier contract in limbo. So Simons’ expiring deal can be put into play. Rozier’s? Still crickets from the NBA, just a whole bunch of vapid empathy.

AN INTERESTING ONE: Amid a solid season with the Brooklyn Nets, former Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. had an interesting take on his struggles in a recent loss to the Heat at Barclays Center. “I think I lifted too much before the game,” Porter said, according to the New York Daily News. “I think I lifted upper body too much yesterday, so my shot was a little flat or a little short on a lot of them. Yeah, I was in the weight room too much.” There also was credit given. “That’s a good defense. They’ve been a good defense for years,” Porter said.

TRUE LEADER: Kevin Love is picking up with the Utah Jazz where he left off with the Heat, as an upbeat locker-room presence on a team going through tough times. “The baseline of any great relationship is communication and transparency,” Love said. “Nobody [expletive] talked when I first got here. I’m like I gotta get these guys to sing because they just won’t even talk to each other. That’s been a huge sign of growth for us. I think we’re playing better basketball.” Love was sent to the Jazz in the multi-team deal that delivered Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Heat. The first of the Heat’s two games against the Jazz is Jan. 24 in Salt Lake City.

WHY BOTHER?: In promoting their players amid All-Star balloting, the Golden State Warriors made the mistake of a social-media post for Jimmy Butler. The given with the former Heat forward is that he has better things to do with his time in mid-February. “Don’t vote for me guys,” Butler posted in response. “Instead, somebody create a gofundme to send me to Barbados. Thanks in advance. Go Warriors.” The GoFundMe likely will not be necessary, with Butler earning $54.1 million this season on the start of the two-year Warriors extension that the Heat elected to bypass before last February’s trade.

TRADE RELATIONS: Butler, of course, was swapped to the Warriors in the package that delivered Andrew Wiggins to the Heat. Amid trade speculation with Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors coach Steve Kerr referenced the difficulties Wiggins had in last season’s Heat adjustment. “It’s a tough spot to be in,” Kerr said on the Tom Tolbert Show of Kuminga, who almost assuredly will be dealt. “He’s got two little girls at home and he’s been here five years. And Andrew Wiggins was in this exact boat a year ago, and Wigs actually was about to have his third child right at the trade deadline and his name was floating out there. And we kind of go through this every year.” Kerr added, “I always just try to talk to the guys about the business and this is how it works and how few players in NBA history played for one franchise and it’s all part of the deal that you sign up for. But it doesn’t make it any easier.”

NUMBER

2. Times over the past decade the Heat have played on Christmas Day: in a 2020 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans and a home victory last year over the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the previous decade, the Heat played on seven consecutive Christmas Days, from 2009 to 2015.