OK Heat fans. This is going to sound borderline sacrilegious, but it might be time to start thinking about a future without Dwyane Wade in it.

While that thought is the stuff of nightmares for MV3 fans in the 305, what’s going to be really hard to swallow is that President Pat Riley probably shouldn’t wait until the end of the season to start the post-Wade era.

Maybe it’s time for the Heat to start talking trade.

Before you slam your laptop on the floor and give it the ground and pound, take a few deep breaths and jump back into cold, hard reality.

The NBA's trade deadline is Feb. 18 and for the Heat it will mark the point of no return with Wade.

It is a very distinct possibility that Wade will not be resigning with the Heat as a free agent at the end of the year. He’s given just about every indication that he will probably be headed elsewhere.

No one wants to say it. Even whispering it might be punishable by 30 days in jail. But facts are facts.

Meanwhile, the Heat are in the unenviable position of waiting to see what their disgruntled star might do in the summer. If Wade decides to jump ship, the Heat would be left with nothing.

Literally, nothing. The only two players under contract for next season are Michael Beasley and Daequan Cook. That’s it.

With no guarantees of Wade and the NBA trade deadline about a week away, getting anything you can for a premier NBA player sounds like a good consolation.

Still breathing? Consider this.

Wade’s already put his Miami house up for sale. He’s said he wants to play with Orlando’s Dwight Howard. He wants to play with LeBron James, possibly in New York. Basically, Wade hasn't stopped talking about next year and the possibilities outside of Miami.

Wade wants to win now. The current Heat roster has a better shot at missing the playoffs, which is understandably frustrating to our resident super hero.

But Riley has already said he doesn’t plan on making any splashes during the season to make Wade happy and Wade is becoming increasingly grumpier as the losses pile up.

He’s started taking shots at his young coach, despite his efforts to backtrack. Speaking of effort, Wade’s has been visibly lackluster on the court. Meanwhile, his personal and business troubles off the court have made more headlines.

Suddenly, the sand of South Beach isn’t looking so pristine.

What if the Heat made a call to Orlando and snatched up a couple of players for Wade? Rashard Lewis and a couple of other players might not light up a marquee like Flash, but that would at least stock the cupboard until 2010 free agency.

The Bulls would love to have their hometown boy back. We’re sure in time South Beach could embrace Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and another solid player.

The West is stacked with young talent. Minnesota has been trying to unload Al Jefferson all season. They have enough talent to make a trade work.

Phoenix wants to rebuild and Amare Stoudemire is the perfect building block.

Outside of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the possible scenarios are endless. And any trade this year still leaves room for signing a top flight free agent in 2010.

The point is there is no NBA team that wouldn’t listen to a trade offer for Wade, and for as much loyalty Riley has to Flash, he should have more to the franchise.

We’d all love to keep wearing our No. 3 jerseys proudly, but hoping at the expense of facing an undesirable reality could result in a nightmare of New Jersey Nets-like proportions.