After an eventful week of free agency, Heat president Pat Riley spoke to local reporters and addressed a handful of subject related to his team and the offseason so far. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald passed along the highlights of that session, so let’s dive in and round up some of Riley’s most notable observations and comments…
- Riley called the Heat’s pursuit of Gordon Hayward a “no-brainer” even though it didn’t ultimately work out. “The fact Gordon had an interest in us, we felt a need to pursue that but not at the risk of [not] negotiating hard with our own free agents,” Riley said.
- The Heat went hard after Kelly Olynyk because the team viewed a stretch four or five as one type of player the roster was lacking. Riley also suggested that Olynyk “sets probably the best screens in the NBA” and is an ideal fit alongside Hassan Whiteside or Bam Adebayo.
- The Heat have used “every last dollar” of the salary cap, but still have the $4.3MM room exception. Still, Riley doesn’t expect the team to use that exception right away. “We have 10 guys that we really like, 11 guys or 12 who will be fighting for rotation minutes,” Riley said. “I’m going to add another room mid level guy who is going to be fighting for 10 minutes? … If something pops up that’s really good, we’ll think about using it.”
- Asked if the Heat need to add a backup point guard, Riley replied, “Absolutely not.” The Heat president pointed to Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow, and Josh Richardson as possible ball-handlers.
- Miami wants to re-sign Udonis Haslem and is “still talking” to Luke Babbitt. However, Willie Reed is unlikely to return, per Riley.
- When it came to the Josh McRoberts trade, A.J. Hammons wasn’t just a throw-in for the Heat — Riley likes what he brings to the table. “He’s the kind of player that fits that mold of a stretch five or four,” Riley said. “We remember him from Purdue. That happened very quickly. We made that deal pretty quickly. We already had scouting reports on him.”
I’ve really liked our offseason. 30-11 over the 2nd half of last season was no fluke we just finally figured out an offensive identity (drive and kick) to go with our top 5 defense. Bringing back the same team with the additions of Winslow, Adebayo and Olynyk while only losing Reed is a huge win. Expecting top 4 in the east.
I’d say top 6. Top 4 is probably the same and the Bucks with parker healthy should be 4/5 depending on the Wizards bench output. Also the Pistons and Hornets look improved
Yeah bucks should be good but I think heat can pass wizards and raptors (especially raptors). Pistons have major chemistry issues with 2 of their best players Drummond and Jackson on the trade block. Hornets look improved if you rate still Dwight which I really don’t.
If Reed or Dedmon signs for the room exception amount somewhere else…man. we almost had a really good offseason, but that kind of got hurt by the Olynyk deal.