Heat president Pat Riley was pleased with the development of several young players this season, telling reporters at his end-of-season press conference that he was especially impressed with the improvements of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
“When we drafted Bam, we didn’t think Bam would be an All-Star this quick,” Riley said, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “We saw a great athlete. We didn’t even know how great a person he was. When we found out the level of his character and his loyalty and being a teammate, that with his talent, we knew we had something special.”
Adebayo averaged 17.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in the playoffs, with the 23-year-old showing noticeable improvements on both ends of the floor this season. As for Herro, a fearless 20-year-old who just finished his rookie season, Riley had much of the same praise for his campaign.
“[He] grew through listening and he grew through the mentorship of Udonis Haslem, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic,” Riley said. “All of those guys and the ones that came at midseason — Andre [Iguodala] and Solomon [Hill] and Kelly [Olynyk] and Meyers [Leonard] — all of these veterans took him under their wing because they saw something special there
“He got better not just as a shooter, but as a shotmaker. He got better in handling the ball. I used to see him out here on the court with our coaches that were developing him putting him through a myriad of ball-handling drills against pressure, banging him with the heavy bag, making him go to the basket and knocking him down and making sure he concentrated on finishing.
“He’s a very, very efficient offensive player. He got better as a playmaker. His vision — he started to see other plays because he could take it to the rack. He’s a great kid. He works hard and we have somebody very special in him.”
There’s more from the Eastern Conference today:
- Chris Kirschner and John Hollinger of The Athletic examine the Hawks’ best draft fits, potential trades and more. Atlanta owns the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
- Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel considers whether Kings guard De’Aaron Fox could loom as a future fallback option for the Heat when they go star-hunting. Fox averaged a career-high 21.1 points, 6.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 49 games this past season.
- Josh Robbins of The Athletic predicts which players the Magic will sign and let walk in free agency this year. Orlando finished with a 33-40 record last season, good for eighth-best in the Eastern Conference. Evan Fournier ($17.15MM) and James Ennis ($2.13MM) both hold player options for next season, with D.J. Augustin and Michael Carter-Williams set to reach unrestricted free agency. In addition, Wesley Iwundu ($2MM) and Gary Clark ($1.8MM) are eligible for qualifying offers that would make them restricted free agents, and the club must make a decision on Melvin Frazier Jr.‘s $1.66MM team option.
Who says no？
Heat get Fox
Kings get Herro and Nunn
Heat would laugh in their face. Herro will be better than Fox moving forward.
LOL Herro is good, but not better than Fox.
I doubt that Herro will be anything more than a 20 PPG scorer, and Fox already is that, plus can pass and defend a bit.
You need to say what your offer is
You want someone you like，you can’t just buy low
How is Fox an option at any time soon for the Heat? Sacramento can lock him up in the coming months and he won’t be a free agent for 5 more years.
Exactly, any RFA that is the best player on a team will get a rookie max contract extension. Wasted text.
Rumours I’ve seen are that the Kings aren’t sure if Fox is worth the rookie max extension.
If I’m Fox next season I’m playing very average, I don’t want the Kings to resign me but I want to still look like a max to some teams and would be happy to take a slight bit less and go to a good team.
Since Fox has joined them how have they built around him? They paid Buddy Heild now want to trade him, they paid Barnes big money for what?, they drafted Bagley high only for him to be injured all the time, and now they want to pay Bogdanovic 18mil.
If I’m Fox I’d be looking at New Orleans and Zion or Phoenix with Booker and Ayton.