Heat president Pat Riley will look for additions that could bring a title to Miami but he pledged not to make drastic roster changes, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.
Riley met the media for his annual postseason press conference on Tuesday.
“We’re not going to take a wrecking ball to a good team that had some real adversity this year that I felt built some strength. We have a good team, and probably a great team,” Riley said. “And so, running it back? Yes. Doing something that can help you with that last step? Yes, if it’s a possibility and if there’s an opportunity without setting you back while you’re moving forward. It’s just onward with us. It’s onward.”
Of course, the Heat could still make a big trade. They’ve been linked to Damian Lillard and would be considered a strong candidate to land him if the star guard asks out of Portland. They were also considered a possible destination for Bradley Beal before the Suns swooped in for the Wizards’ All-Star wing.
Riley wasn’t at liberty to speak about Lillard or Beal due to tampering rules, nor could he talk about specific free agent targets. However, the Heat could move some big salaries (Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson) if a superstar talent becomes available.
Riley addressed a number of other topics:
- The Heat are projected to be over the luxury tax threshold next season, which is projected to be $162MM. Riley said that team owner Micky Arison and CEO Nick Arison are willing to pay the penalty for a championship team. “They’re committed to winning championships,” Riley said. “And we’re in the tax. (GM) Andy [Elisburg] has been already making sure that we’re working around the edges of the tax, trying to put together a competitive team, and we have. … [The Arisons are] committed to doing whatever it takes to fulfill his championship dream. It’s been 10 or 11 years, so we’re getting a little anxious here. We’d like to win another one.”
- With Herro’s four-year, $130MM extension kicking in next season, Riley labeled him as one of the franchise’s young anchors along with Bam Adebayo, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Tyler is just an extraordinary scorer and fourth-quarter player, big-time shot-maker. He’s 23 years old. You got to watch (it) with these guys.”
- Riley admits he’d like to take some of the pressure off Jimmy Butler shoulders on offense: “I would love to be able to go out there and pick who I want as a perfect complement to him. It’s not that easy, but we will work toward that and I will pat him on the back the next time I see him.”
- Ideally, Riley would like to get a versatile player with the Heat’s first-round pick at No. 18. “Probably I would say more overall wing size and length. I mean, that’s what I think everybody is looking for and multiple-position players, especially ball-handling players that are two-way kinds of players.”
Wow #52 ……. How exciting …..
Wizards with #7, 42, 57 ….. wow so excited
Does this board know. Wizards shut down Beal. So they can have a better pick ….
One of the twins should be there . That’s who I take. Wizards probably swing for the fences and draft the other French baller.
I take Hendricks or Auser …..
Ausar isn’t dropping that low.
No matter what the Heat look to do with the roster, no matter if they add another Superstar, they still need a competent big man to help alleviate some of the size challenges that Bam has to deal with.
Not really, the Warriors won a championship with 6’9″ center in Looney and Green at 6’6″. It wasn’t Bam’a fault he had to deal with Jokic. Not even Embiid can stop Jokic.
Exactly. Heat needed a smallball 5/another 4, not another big
I disagree. As some teams get bigger, this small ball style, will die out. Cavs have quite a bit of big men and do pretty good covering the rim and the point. Not sure why they struggle to get to the championship game and win it. Even with LBJ, Cleveland struggled to get to the championship game and win it. They did win 1 with LBJ and it was a heart warming experience for the city and James. But they choke in the playoffs no matter who is on the team. Isn’t it coaching? Is it the players? Or both?
@PiratesFan1981
Agreed. In fact, the Cavs are one of the teams that have exposed the Heat’s small size in their head-to-head matchups. If the Cavs got past the Knicks, they very likely would’ve beaten the Heat as well due to the size thing.
I’m all for the Heat getting Dame or another Superstar, but they also need a 4 or 5 that can be a physical presence that helps Bam, and stops letting big teams expose the Heat by taking advantage of the size.
@Tacocat1331 and @formerlyz
It isn’t just the Finals that the Heat have been exposed for being a small team. It has been many times over the lest four years. Bam needs help. The guys that they have been pairing with him at the 4 have not helped with size or physical presence. For example, we all know that Caleb Martin is a better player than K-Love at this point in their careers. However, the Heat seemed more stabile against bigger teams with K-Love at the 4 instead of Martin. And that’s with K-Love being 6’8, but he has a physical presence with that 6’8.
Also, the Warriors combo still has a physical presence with Looney and Green. The Heat don’t have that. It’s essentially Bam with guys that are more suitable as 2s or 3s playing the 4 for the Heat. That’s not good and they’ve been exposed with it many times over the last four years – even when playing bad teams with size.
As for Jokic, yes we all know he’s unstoppable. However, the Heat does have a problem with lack of size. Jokic just represents the best big guy in the league, which without a doubt would pick apart a small team like the Heat. The size the Heat need that would impact their matchup with Denver would be more to handle the rest of the team while trying to contain the amount of damage that Jokic does. The Heat’s lack of size hurt their chances of doing that. It’s a problem they have with other teams that have size…and those teams don’t have Jokic.