Riley says base remains S. Florida

Contract extension goes to 2020-21

MIAMI — Pat Riley has both confirmed and clarified his contract status to the Sun Sentinel.

The Heat confirmed the report in a recent ESPN the Magazine that Riley a year ago agreed to a five-year extension to continue in his role as team president. That would keep him under contract through the 2020-21 season, when he will turn 76.

In that profile, it was mentioned that Riley’s agreement is “with the understanding that he can work anywhere, including his [Malibu] perch overlooking the Pacific.”

However, when asked about that element of the agreement, Riley clarified through a team spokesman that “he is not going anywhere for an extended period.”

Riley has long-standing ties to the Los Angeles area, where he both played with and coached for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has commuted between homes in Malibu and Miami, with the bulk of his time in South Florida since joining the Heat in September 1995.

Riley often catches up with the Heat in Los Angeles during the team’s West Coast trips and often works out of Southern California during part of the

pre-draft period, attending workouts there organized by agents based in the area.

Heat policy generally is to not announce contract details for their coaching staff or front office, with coach Erik Spoelstra confirming his contract extension in December with a hasty pregame comment before a road game against the Boston Celtics after several requests for confirmation.

In Riley’s case, just a week before his extension was chronicled in the ESPN piece, Riley downplayed a concrete timetable for his franchise stewardship.

“I think we’ve all been a good group over the last 22 years. We’ve all grown up together,” he said in late April of a front-office staff that largely has remained intact during his tenure with the franchise. “I just want to have a good summer, come back and have a great team and contend for championships. I don’t know how many more non-playoff years I could take or I’d want to take or I’m not so sure if we had non-playoff years that I’d even deserve to be here.”

The Heat failed to make the playoffs this season, only the fifth time that has happened since Riley left the New York Knicks to work for Heat owner Micky Arison.

It is not unusual for NBA executives to work away from cities where teams are based, with Jerry West currently serving as a Golden State Warriors consultant while residing in Southern California. It is rare, however, to have such logistics with executives involved in team’s day-today activities.

Riley is a regular observer of Heat practice sessions at AmericanAirlines Arena, often inviting players into his executive suite off Biscayne Bay.

By remaining with the Heat through 2020-21, it would keep Riley with the team through the final draft payment for the 2015 trade for guard Goran Dragic, with the Heat owing the Phoenix Suns firstround picks in 2018 and ’21 for that transaction.

Riley is expected to have another busy offseason, with the Heat anticipated to have roughly $37 million available in salary-cap space if medical relief is issued for the contract of sidelined forward Chris Bosh. Among the Heat’s impending free agents are James Johnson and Dion Waiters, who both expressed appreciation following the season for Riley’s impact in resurrecting their careers.

Riley currently is with the Heat scouting staff at the NBA draft combine in Chicago.

The Heat have bolstered their front office during Riley’s tenure, with Nick Arison named chief executive officer, Andy Elisburg promoted to general manager, Adam Simon to assistant general manager and former Heat forward Shane Battier hired in February as the team’s first director of basketball development and analytics.