Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat president Pat Riley says Goran Dragic’s performance in EuroBasket validates the guard’s trade to Miami.
MIAMI — The gold-medal payoff wasn’t for the Heat, but Pat Riley said Thursday that Goran Dragic’s performance in the recently completed EuroBasket championships further solidified the team’s confidence in the price previously paid for the veteran point guard.
Dragic led Slovenia to a 9-0 record, closing out the tournament with a 35-point performance Sunday in the championship game against Serbia, before being sidelined late by cramps.
“Going back to when we made the decision to give up two first-round picks to get Goran, who was at the time coming off third-team AllNBA selection, we knew we were getting a great guard and a competitive guard, a two-way player, a great person, all of those things,” the Heat’s president said of the 2015 trade, shortly after announcing Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena the Heat’s uniform sponsorship by Weston-based Ultimate Software.
Riley said he did not need affirmation about giving up what likely will be 2018 and ’21 first-round picks to the Phoenix Suns. But he nonetheless said Dragic’s emergence as Most Valuable Player at EuroBasket was heartening.
“I think since he’s been here, he has proven to be that,” Riley said of Dragic as an elite presence. “I think last year, he had, to me, an All-Star year last year, if you stop and think about the numbers that he put up.
“What he did over in Slovenia this year in the games, by being the MVP, and getting 35 points in just three quarters of a game — and then I loved his Hulk pose that I saw. So he didn’t have to deal with the conditioning test.”
Heat players during Riley’s stewardship have had to pass a grueling, timed sprint test in order to take the court for training camp. Riley said Dragic’s success against elite NBA talent at EuroBasket offset the requirement still in place for Erik Spoelstra’s other players.
“I’m just proud of him,” he said. “I’m proud that we have him.”
Teammates reveled in Dragic’s success, particularly in the wake of the Heat missing out on a playoff berth by a tiebreaker after rallying with a 30-11 run over the second half of last season.
“It was heartfelt,” forward James Johnson said Thursday outside the Heat locker room. “It really was for me, to appreciate a champion. It doesn’t matter what level or anything else, here, there. For him to bring that back for his country and then win MVP, that meant a lot for us as brothers in this locker room.
The Heat open training camp Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University after Monday’s media day at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“I think Spo has talked about that with his staff and also with Goran,” Riley said of the 31-year-old point guard. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that his teammates would understand after what he’s done over the last almost two months of conditioning, that there might be, I think, he needs little bit of rest right now.
Ticket time
Heat tickets for individual games will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. today.
Tickets start at $15 for select games, with an eightticket limit per order.
Sales will begin today at Heat.com, Ticketmaster.com and 800-4NBA-TIX. Sales at the ticket office at AmericanAirlines Arena will begin Monday at 10 a.m.
Ticket prices for individual games will vary throughout the season, under the team’s “dynamic ticket pricing,” based on the demand for each individual game.