Experienced eye
Heat’s Pat Riley prefers prospects with polish.
Where’s the “trust,” Dwyane? Where’s the “family,” Pat? Where’s the “sacrifice,” Micky?
It all seems to be spiraling down, word by fundamental word, this grand organiza- tional philosophy team president Pat Riley built, owner Micky Arison underwrote and Dwyane Wade represented as Exhibit A.
Maybe that’s what Wade wants to expose when his father appears before a church congregation in a Cleveland Cavaliers T-shirt. Or when his son puts on Snapchat a caption of “Dedicated to the Heat” with video of dad singing Rihanna’s “B---- Better Have My Money.”
A summer ago, Wade coined the loyalists’ phrase, “#HeatLifer.” Now his drive-by slaps at the Heat are followed by neither explanation nor apology and so they must be taken at uncomfortable face value.
No one looks good here. Not Arison. Not Riley. Certainly not Wade, who comes off petty and petulant, like a teenager wanting to make his girlfriend jealous, starting with his NBA Finals reference to his Heat
days in the past tense.
Is this to shake money from the Heat in negotiations? Yes.
Is it a threat he might leave? Possibly.
Could it get any uglier? Let’s hope not.
Business rarely pollutes the air around the Heat. That’s part of their charm. But it’s never easy dealing with an aging superstar who has something owed him in the name of trust and loyalty. Ask the Dolphins and Dan Marino.
It begs the question: When did Wade and the Heat two become “sides” and not “family?” How did this split happen?
The trust is broken. That much is clear. That covenant always meant something big to the Heat, too, with coach Erik Spoelstra using the word so often in timeout huddles and news conferences — trust, trust, trust — he threatened to wear it out.
Family mattered, too. The Heat doesn’t just have another annual charity venture. It has “Family Fest.” The entire organization shows up, just as it did at the funeral of Udonis Haslem’s mother and Wade’s marriage.
Family was a prime selling point when Riley threw his seven championship rings on the table and courted LeBron James. Who was with him? Heat-Lifers like Spoelstra, general manager Andy Elisburg and Alonzo Mourning.
Of course, Mourning once spurned the Heat for more money, so this fable of family only goes so far. Riley tries to take care of loyal players going back to Tim Hardaway’s one-year, $14 million thank you gift near his end.
Wade sacrificed dollars for this franchise in the past and is now slapping a loud bill on the table. He’s right in every way but his methodology. Snapchat? Tshirts? And Cleveland?
The way the luxury and salary cap work, Cleveland would have $3.5 million to pay him. He is still scheduled to make $16.1 million next year with the Heat. Does he want to join LeBron that badly?
There’s a way out of this. NBA rules allow the Heat to pay Wade $23.5 million next year. Give him that and the promise of a twoyear, $20 million deal next offseason. They can even ease the luxury tax by dumping Josh McRoberts and Mario Chalmers.
That should make Wade happy and allow Riley to get in a room next summer with free agent Kevin Durant. Of course, the conflict to Riley thinking big like this always has been Arison wanting to operate basketball as a sound business.
Those ideas have meshed in part because Riley has sold players on “trust” and “family” and players like Wade on “sacrifice.”
LeBron grew upset when Arison wouldn’t pay Mike Miller and the Heat traded away a draft pick just to rid itself of Joel Anthony’s contract. So will Arison give a whopping one-year deal to Wade with the promise of another deal to follow?
Or is it just the players asked to sacrifice?
Wade, surely, is due something. He better not overplay his hand, though. The harsh truth is the Heat could be just as well without him considering the way his style doesn’t mesh with the running style Spoelstra keeps wanting to play.
But “trust” and “family” demand the Heat do right here. Or do those words not apply anymore?
The Heat Way has always involved Wade, Riley and Arison trusting each other. Is that no more?