Heat’s Riley: Time for signees to deliver
MIAMI — Pat Riley has a trip to his California home awaiting, followed by a vacation with his wife.
He can now relax a little. The 2017-18 Miami Heat are going to look a lot like the 201617 Miami Heat, and the team president is just fine with that arrangement. Riley said Monday he thinks bringing back now-former free agents Dion Waiters and James Johnson and signing them to four-year deals, combined with the surprise addition of Kelly Olynyk, gives Miami a real shot at picking up where it left off last season.
The way he sees it, now it’s up to those signees to deliver on promises.
“I think in training camp, they have to look at it with great foresight for the future — but also they have to back up their words somewhat with their play,” Riley said Monday. “So it’ll be very interesting this year when we go to training camp to see where their heads are, and I’m convinced they’ll come ready. They think they’re a good team and they’ll get it together. I’m excited about it.”
Even in a summer when Miami swung and missed at landing Gordon Hayward, Riley thinks the Heat got better in the last few days. Miami went through one of the most unique seasons in NBA history last year — it lost franchise cornerstone Dwyane Wade in the summer, started 11-30 to fall super-close to the NBA basement, then went 30-11 in the second half and still missed the playoffs.
It was a painful ending. Riley wants that pain to permeate for a while.
“As good as we were in the second half of the year, we didn’t finish the job and get that one shot at the first round,” Riley said.
Tim Hardaway Jr. back in New York
NEW YORK — Tim Hardaway Jr. thought that with Phil Jackson gone, maybe there was a chance someday he could come back to New York.
Even he was surprised it was this soon.
With Jackson and his triangle offense gone, the Knicks reached back to their past to sign Hardaway, a former firstround pick who didn’t fit under Jackson but they hope can flourish without him.
“I definitely left with a bad taste in my mouth and just to have that opportunity to come back here is very rare, so you’ve got to make the most of that,” Hardaway said Monday.
Jackson and the Knicks parted ways last month after three dismal seasons and were quiet at the start of free agency until signing Hardaway to an offer sheet for a four-year, $71 contract. When the Atlanta Hawks decided not to match the offer for the restricted free agent, Hardaway was officially a Knick again on Saturday.
“You play here for two years and then you’re gone, and then two years after you get a phone call and it’s like, ‘Wow, I wouldn’t expect it coming from them,’” Hardaway said.
The 6-foot-6 guard was the No. 24 pick in the 2013 draft after helping Michigan reach the NCAA championship game and was voted to the All-Rookie first team. Jackson was hired as team president late in that season, fired coach Mike Woodson and hired Derek Fisher to replace him and implement the triangle.
Hardaway shot just 39 percent in 2014-15 as the Knicks stumbled to a franchise-worst 17-65 finish, and Jackson dealt Hardaway to Atlanta in a threeteam deal on draft night for the rights to first-round pick Jerian Grant.
Timberwolves ink two to contracts
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves have finalized contracts with power forward Taj Gibson and point guard Jeff Teague, two complementary additions to a roster that has undergone a huge overhaul.
Gibson and Teague signed their deals on Monday before an introductory news conference at team headquarters. Gibson (two years, $28 million) and Teague (three years, $57 million) agreed to terms earlier this month during the moratorium period for free agency.
Gibson (Chicago) and Teague (Atlanta) were both first-round draft picks in 2009. Between them, they have 127 games of postseason experience.