When the NBA’s free agent negotiating period begins at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, it will not be some wasted transition period in which players and teams twiddle their thumbs and patiently bide their time before the 2016 summer of Kevin Durant and the ballooning salary cap.

This offseason will test whether players still view the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks as destination teams or disaster situations still too intimidating to rescue. It will challenge whether Dwyane Wade is willing to sacrifice his status as a supposed Heat “lifer” and leave in spite — bitterness bred by going unrewarded for past concessions. It will be the Pop quiz to determine if the Spurs can pull a miracle and land a possible big man successor to pair with Kawhi Leonard and extend their dynastic run beyond the close of Tim Duncan’s career. And it could possibly set the stage for another labor dispute in 2017 if owners once again lose control of common sense, severely overpay on questionable contracts and then whine about a ridiculous salary structure.

The Lakers and Knicks are viewed as the league’s most glamorous franchises but both have hit hard times and recently become the teams with which players love to flirt but ultimately flee when its time for a committed relationship. Both teams have more than $23 million in cap space to help return to respectability but need to find talent willing to take it.

Shaquille O’Neal was the last marquee free agent to embrace the Lakers’ championship legacy and succumb to the lure of the purple and gold. O’Neal left Orlando in 1996 and won three championships in eight seasons with the Lakers until a contract dispute and a festering feud with Kobe Bryant led to him getting dealt to Miami.

The Lakers were able to win two more titles after dealing for Pau Gasol, who continued the franchise’s legacy of big men. Dwight Howard was supposed to do the same but left for Houston after one season under the heated, bright lights and Bryant’s angry glare, leaving nearly $30 million on the table to escape.

Carmelo Anthony is friends with Bryant but didn’t want to leave New York and LeBron James didn’t bother having a conversation with them last summer. The current crop of free agents is too far removed from, or perhaps too young to remember, O’Neal’s ouster from the Lakers to blame Bryant. Bryant’s sometimes abrasive personality — revealed in a recent interview in which he said, “friendships come and go, banners hang forever” — has been blamed for the Lakers’ inability to attract or retain talent. Some of those criticisms have been unfair and Lakers president Jeanie Buss has already declared that anyone lacking the competitive fire to play with Bryant isn’t fit to be a Laker.

Bryant is expected to retire after his 20th season, so playing with him — and dealing with his confrontational leadership style — soon won’t be much of a concern. But attempting to be the post-Kobe face of the franchise might be the scariest role for anyone since Michael Jordan retired from Chicago the second time.

Remember the summer of 2000, when the Bulls had gargantuan amounts of salary cap space and failed to convince Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill or even Tim Thomas to take their money? Bryant’s presence, and the undying commitment of his fans, is already hovering. The expectations go beyond just reaching the playoffs with an organization that only hangs championship banners and the retired jerseys of Hall of Famers.

The Lakers will be the first team to meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, who is eager to join a contender and/or a larger market as a platform to flaunt his all-star skills. And they will also attempt to lure DeAndre Jordan away from the crosstown Clippers. But with Marc Gasol, unlikely to leave Memphis, a blockbuster trade — possibly for DeMarcus Cousins — is the more realistic path to find a player willing to accept the challenges of turning a team unaccustomed to lottery appearances into a contender again.

In the past 20 years, the Knicks have only enticed three marquee free agents to New York — Allan Houston, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. The Knicks have struggled to find the right complements for Anthony ever since he forced his way out Denver in February 2011.

After drafting a project big man in Kristaps Porzingis and possessing no tradeable assets, the Knicks can only get better quickly by spending money. The chances they will be able to woo Aldridge, Gasol, Jordan or Kevin Love are slim, so the Knicks might have to shelve a super team model and build around Anthony with Greg Monroe and a few other talented pieces.

Phil Jackson failed in his first summer recruiting, missing out on big name players and his first choice at coach, with Steve Kerr instead choosing eventual champion Golden State. The Knicks don’t have the same storied history as the Lakers and those who contribute to a championship turnaround would be revered forever. But even the appeal of playing in the weaker Eastern Conference might not be enough to make a difference.

Teams can provide so many more incentives to retain their own free agents — such as an extra year and higher annual raises — which has resulted in more players signing and hoping for a trade later if the situation doesn’t work out. Aldridge will meet with Dallas, Houston, Toronto, Phoenix, San Antonio, as well as the Lakers and Knicks. He appears to be the most accomplished player willing to switch teams.

The Portland Trail Blazers have already offered Aldridge a five-year, $108 million contract as opposed to the four-year, $80 million deal he could score from another team — a significant difference for Aldridge, who will turn 30 later this year and is signing his last huge contract.

The Spurs are considered a favorite to pry Aldridge away from the Pacific Northwest, since Aldridge is a Texas native, played collegiately in nearby Austin and has long had an affinity for Duncan, an expected participant in the recruiting visit. But San Antonio would need to find a creative means to get Aldridge and maintain the depth that has allowed it to remain a contender for the past decade. If they decide to hold off retirement plans, Duncan and Ginobili won’t sign deals that hurt the Spurs plans — especially since they would only be chasing another Larry O’Brien trophy at this point.

Tiago Splitter is reportedly available via trade, which would alleviate any financial limitations, but the Spurs will also have to lock up Leonard, the 2014 Finals MVP and reigning defensive player of the year, to a five-year maximum contract worth roughly $90 million. Danny Green could also become expendable in the Aldridge chase, since several teams should be interested in a defensive-minded sharpshooter.

Wade’s situation in Miami is both disappointing and disheartening, given what the player and the franchise have meant to each other over the past 12 years. Business often gets in the way of personal relationships and that could lead to an unexpected divorce if some team is willing to overlook Wade’s age and injury history to give the three-time champion the kind of salary he believes he’s worth.

Wade feels the Heat owes him for taking less money to assist with the formation of the Big Three in 2010 and with helping the franchise recover from James’s surprising return to Cleveland last summer. Heat President Pat Riley is thinking about the long-term future of the franchise and the hope he can get free agent Durant to the negotiating table next summer. The market for Wade is difficult to gauge since his value to the Heat outweighs what any other team will find in him. But if the Lakers or Knicks fail in their attempts to sign big men, maybe adding another big name will suffice.

While some players will risk long-term security and postpone immediate gratification until the NBA’s $24-billion television windfall begins next summer, others plan to take advantage of a more free-spending period in which a deal will look massive today but appear less painful in a few years. No matter what, the outcome should be far from boring.