Pat Riley addresses state of Miami Heat at media session
MIAMI — For the first time since introducing 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic in the wake of last June’s NBA draft, Miami Heat President Pat Riley held a media session Tuesday at Kaseya Center.
While several subjects were off limits, including Heat trade deliberations regarding Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard, due to those players being under contract to other teams, Riley took time to look back on a season that took the Heat from a 44-38 regular season to the NBA Finals.
Riley offered his thoughts not only ahead of Thursday’s NBA draft, but also the June 30 start of NBA free agency.
Riley also was not allowed, by NBA rules, to discuss outside free agents or financial specifics of his team’s plans for impending Heat free agents such as Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Kevin Love and others.
Among Riley’s thoughts:
— He reiterated what he was limited to discuss, “There are no rules today but there are some. I can’t talk about a certain number of things, right?” He added, “I really don’t want to talk about all the rumors. We had a great season this year.”
— Of where the team stands, “We’re not going to take a wrecking ball to this thing.” He added, “It’s just onward with this team.”
— To that end, of owner Micky Arison and the punitive luxury-tax tiers, he said, “He’s committed to whatever it takes to fulfill this championship dream.”
— Riley said such decisions by Arison and son Nick come through both financial and basketball deliberations.
— “He and Nick, they are really basketball guys too, not just business guys,” Riley said. “That has to be thought of and planned out, because you can get yourself in trouble. if you do something early.”
— Of the directions to consider, Riley said, “Subtle moves will be enough, if they’re the right moves.” To that end, he noted, “I’m not just swinging for the fences right now, because it could be reckless.”
— He also added, “But, also, we need to improve.”
— As in, “Subtle moves will be enough if they’re the right moves, during this offseason. Hitting the home run, like I said, it’s addition by subtraction. We’ve done this. We’ve played this game for 27 years. I plan on hitting big again.”
— He earlier discussed all of the team’s iterations, as if to demonstrate the realities of change, during those comments mentioning how he wished he could have kept Michael Beasley longer.
— “I don’t want to go through another pause,” he said. “After our ride this year, it was an incredible year with ups and downs.”
— Of the team at the moment, he mentioned Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, “We have a good core of young guys.”
— Of Jimmy Butler, he said, “He’s a whole different bag of tricks.”
— And of coach Erik Spoelstra, he said, “We have who I think is the best coach in the league.”
— Of the Heat’s close games and harrowing moments, he said, “It was all like down to the wire.”
— Of the NBA Finals against the Nuggets, he said after the Game 2 win he said he thought, “This dream is going to happen.” The Heat did not win again in losing 4-1.
— “I’m still sleep deprived,” he said of the season’s wild ride.
— “And so,” he said, “we’re working on our fifth reiteration of building another championship team.”
— Of the current rumor mill, he said, “I’m learning more about things about this league from you, than I ever have learned in my life.”
— On Herro, who is at the center of many trade rumors, Riley said, “We missed him (in the playoffs). People don’t understand just how lethal he is. He gets bigger in the biggest moments. We’ve got two anchors in Bam and Tyler.”
— Of when the team might make a move, he said: “We’re gonna show some patience here instead of react without knowing what the consequences can be.”
— Of what the Heat might be lacking, he said, “I would say probably more wing size and length.”
—”I think,” he said, “that’s what everybody is looking for. Two-way kind of players. Multi-position players.”
— Of not making a trade at the trade deadline, he instead pointed to the buyout-deadline addition of Kevin Love.
— “K-Love especially changed the dynamic of our team,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t have to be a huge trade.”
— Of the loss to the Nuggets and series-MVP Nikola Jokic in the Finals, Riley said, “I don’t think there’s anybody in the league who individually can play Jokic. He’s an incredible force.”
— And of retiring 43-year-old team captain Udonis Haslem he concluded with, “He’s a special man.”
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
