Heat game plan has stalled

TNT’s Anthony: Riley’s winning formula is find a superstar, build around him, but this team doesn’t have any star power

Greg Anthony knows how Pat Riley thinks, having lived all four of the seasons of the Pat Riley coaching experience with the New York Knicks.

And, no, the TNT analyst said, this Miami Heat team does not look like a Pat Riley team.

For all the grit, grind and growth on Riley’s Knicks teams that featured players such as Anthony, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, John Starks, Derek Harper, Charlie Ward and Monty Williams, there was, Anthony said, another undeniable asset.

“Who else was on those teams?” he offered, hardly requiring a response. “He had Patrick Ewing.

“What he has now is a complementary team absent a star. He’s always had the complementary part, and he’s always had a star. He doesn’t have a star right now. He hasn’t been able to make the move.”

For Anthony, it was almost as if Riley stands exposed, not for a lack of talent development — he is a fan of several of the Heat’s young pieces — but for the rare time not having a Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ewing, Shaquille O’Neal, now only a retiring Dwyane Wade.

“The roster is set up if they can somehow make the right move,” said Anthony, who also appears on NBA TV programming. “Because I don’t even think they can just pull it off in free agency. It would have to be trades. Make a move and get somebody in there that has a next-level talent.

“Because right now, they’ve got good pieces but they don’t have pieces that are going to allow them to compete.”

The Heat had an opportunity to pitch for such a piece, but there appeared to be an unwillingness to ultimately part with components such as Josh Richardson and Bam Adebayo for Jimmy Butler, who instead was dealt by the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I really like Bam Adebayo. I think he appears to be a piece. I love Josh Richardson,” Anthony said. “I can understand why you don’t want to give up Josh Richardson, because he’s their best player right now, we can make that argument. The problem for them is him as your best player may not be good enough for you to be a postseason participant.”

Anthony said in a perfect world the Heat should protect Richardson to have as a No. 2 to an A-list addition. But he said to accomplish that, the Heat need to further develop assets.

“I think what’s happened is some of these other guys haven’t done what they expected, that Josh Richardson’s done,” he said. “Josh Richardson has become this. He wasn’t this two years ago. And so the thought process was [Dion] Waiters, [Goran] Dragic, Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Justise Winslow, if two of these guys elevated, they could deal to get an A-list guy without giving up their best.

“The problem for them is only one of those guys elevated. Justise Winslow, he’s improved, but I wouldn’t say he’s elevated. Dragic, he’s dealing with injuries, he’s not the player he was a year ago. The problem is nobody else has elevated on the roster other than Richardson.”

To Anthony, the best outcome from the current predicament might be to acquire B-level personnel and develop that into A-list talent. He cited what the Indiana Pacers have done with Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner.

“You look at Indiana — comparable rosters, except their best players are better,” Anthony said. “Oladipo has risen to a level to where you could say he was an All-NBA performer last year, and their younger guys continue to improve. So the difference to me between them and those kinds of teams right now is they don’t have that next-level talent on the roster. They have everybody else like a team like Indiana has. They’ve got those other guys, but when you look at their roster, I don’t know there is a team that’s vying for the postseason that doesn’t have a 20-point scorer.”

Anthony said he appreciates what Riley is attempting to do. He just doesn’t know if the current mix makes that possible, without a Paul George to put into play, as Indiana had.

“The issue for him is you can go get Jimmy Butler, but if I ain’t got anybody to pair Jimmy Butler with, we’re going to be a notch better, but we’re still not going to be good enough,” Anthony said.

“The game plan they had was a good one, it just has not materialized. Goran Dragic is not the player he was when they brought him there. Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Justise Winslow, they have not developed at a level that would allow them to get to a point where somebody is attracted to then. Hassan Whiteside you could argue has taken a step back. Now the problem for them is the guys they were counting on to develop.”