Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Riley sees a ‘dicey’ offseason
President wants to find a good balance between Heat’s short-term goals and long-term future
Pat Riley emphasized Friday that he cannot provide answers for what might come next for the Miami Heat until questions are answered by the NBA.
With the league considering a restart as soon as Dec. 22, Riley said a blueprint for his team’s offseason cannot be drawn until there is clarity about the salary cap and timing of free agency.
“It would be nice to have all of the numbers and everything in a tidy, little binder,” the Heat president said during a Zoom videoconference with reporters.
So instead Riley spoke mostly in generalities — with one exception.
Asked about retaining salary-cap flexibility for the 2021 offseason, when the free-agent class could include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Victor Oladipo and LeBron James, among others, Riley again appeared to hedge his bets for possibilities, just as he did at the February NBA trading deadline.
“My thinking really hasn’t changed,” he said.
It is against that backdrop that Riley will have to walk a tightrope with impending free agents Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder, as well as with the impending extension window for center Bam Adebayo.
If Dragic and/or Crowder are signed for more than one year, or if Adebayo does not wait until the 2021 offseason to rework his contract, then future cap space could disappear.
“It’s going to be a little bit dicey for us because of wanting that flexibility,” Riley said during his 45-minute session.
So even after praising what Dragic and Crowder offered in pushing the Heat within two victories of the 2020 NBA title, and while insisting that Adebayo is a cornerstone to the franchise’s future, no definitive assurances were offered.
“I don’t want to contradict myself,” Riley said. “I’d really like to take care of our own in some way, shape or form. But we also want that other box to be filled, which is called flexibility.”
Amid that uncertainty, Riley noted the youthful (and low-cost) developing core of players such as Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn, all under contracts that keep the team’s 2021 salary-cap sheet relatively clean.
“Contrary to what a lot of people think,” Riley said, “the cupboard is more full than ever.”
Whether that cupboard would next season include some of the team’s remaining free agents was left less clear by Riley, particularly center Meyers Leonard and forward Derrick Jones Jr. Both had been components of the Heat rotation until the playoffs.
“We’re going to talk to them, obviously, like everybody else,” Riley said. “But it’s not easy.”
No quit in Riley
Riley said that as long as he has the support of owner
Micky Arison and the solid working relationship with coach Erik Spoelstra and the front office of Andy Elisburg and Nick Arison, there is no need for thoughts of retirement.
“As long as Micky wants me to do it,” Riley said, when asked how much longer he planned to be on the job.
“If you guys would stop printing my age in every article, then nobody will think I’m 75 years old. So that’s the first thing.
“I love this; I love this team. This is one of my favorite teams now, so I’m here as long as Micky wants me here, and Nick. I have a great relationship with Micky, and now Nick, the CEO. Andy and I are fused at the hip, think alike, talk alike.
“We know what has to be done. To have Andy is incredible for me. And to be able to manage Spo, this is a dream for me this late.”
Butler thanks
Riley said among the reasons his relationship has worked with Jimmy Butler, with it having failed with teams elsewhere, is the simplicity.
“I think he loves it here because we don’t bother him that much,” Riley said.
“We know what he’s going to do and what he can do, and I think you can form a real bond sometimes with body language, with silence, with nods from my seat to the court, without having to have long conversations with these guys.
“I love Jimmy Butler. He’s great for us to have as somebody that other players can look at and say, ‘Well I want to be somewhere like that, where I feel that way about the team and feel that way about the city.’ ”