Heat president Pat Riley understands some fans are disappointed that he didn’t add any big names this offseason, but he’s asking them to be patient as he works to rebuild the team, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami won’t have the cap space to pursue big-name free agents until the summer of 2020. Riley is trying to lay the groundwork for that opportunity while keeping a competitive group on the court.
“If any fan out there is unhappy or angry we didn’t go out and get LeBron James or Kevin Durant or [DeMarcus] Cousins or whatever else they felt that they would want us to get probably didn’t realize we couldn’t get them anyhow, that we couldn’t trade for them,” Riley said. “There are things I read [where] people are so uninformed about the rules and what we can and cannot do until one of you [reporters] – and most of the time you do that – [say] we couldn’t make that move.”
Riley also confirmed that he has refused to surrender first-round picks in deals to get rid of unwanted contracts.
There’s more tonight from the Southeast Division:
- John Wall showed off his recruiting skills by convincing Dwight Howard to come to the Wizards, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Howard wasn’t considering the Wizards as he was negotiating a buyout from the Nets, but an appeal from Wall changed that. “No lie, when I saw the message on Instagram, I really got so happy,” Howard said at his introductory press conference this week. “I was like ‘John just DM’d me, oh man this is crazy!’ After that, I really just started to put on my thinking cap. I just thought about all the possibilities. I was like ‘Man, this could be the best spot for me.'”
- Former Hornets lottery pick Frank Kaminsky is entering a vital season for his financial future, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer in a mailbag column. Kaminsky will be a restricted free agent next summer if he can’t work out an extension with Charlotte before the start of the upcoming season. The Hornets gave deals to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller before they could test the free agent waters, but Bonnell isn’t convinced that Kaminsky has the same value.
- If the Hornets are looking to unload players at next year’s trade deadline, Jeremy Lamb will be a prime candidate to go, Bonnell writes in the same piece. Lamb has an expiring contract and Charlotte has a lot of wing players on its roster.
Headline: John Wall recruits D12 to come to the Wizards. Prime example of inmates running the asylum. Wall forces out Gortat for calling him out as ball hog then brings in D12. Organization doesn’t have scouting dept, so Wall is doing double duty to help out. Commendable. Going to be a dumpster fire of a year for the Wiz. I thought Wall was going to be great player I missed on that one. He thinks he can assemble a great team around his talents like Lebron did in Miami/Clev. Well Johnny boy you’re not quite in the same class as Lebron. (Shocking)
NewsFlash: D12 was not hurt after falling out of a chair when hearing John Wall/wiz actually wanted him to come & play……His quote”Oh man, this crazy. I put on my thinking cap”. The dunce cap is glued inside for safety. Even D12 could not believe he was wanted nor can the rest of us.
Man ease off with the hate for Wall/DH12.
Man, ease off of the hate for Pat Riley….. He has Rings as a player, 72 Laker, 4 as Laker coach, 1 as Heat coach, 2 as GM. Heat, like a lot of NBA teams have some bad paper right now. They have to eat this year to clear some contracts without sacrificing draft picks to get their house in order. Be a good fan, count your titles & live out the year. Heaters are in the East, so they go to the playoffs. Actually, good business if you see it without the emotion attached. They already traded away 20 pick so calm down let them rebuild, 3 rings is better than most teams have.
Does anyone else find funny, not to say pathetic, what Riley is saying, we cannot sign for big names because we don’t have cap space. Well that is his fault, not the fans he gave ridiculous contracts to average players like Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Whiteside, Waiters, also having Dragic that also isn’t worth what he is paid, man this is the problem, fans have to see mediocrity in Miami because he paid big bucks for average at best players, & then blames the fans they don’t know, I think he is the one clueless. Really liked him as a HC but don’t think he has been any good in the FO.
I believe this is the first time I’ll have agreed with a post of yours. Hell had frozen over.
Nah. You agreed with cesc, not Dionis. :0)
Ha! Agreeing with Dionis is the 7th sign.
Have to agree. I’ll give him credit as far as him alluding to the fact that the vast majority of fans definitely are ignorant and stupid, when it come to salary caps, signing and trading rules, luxury taxes, etc.
However, the reason that they can’t sign anyone for a while is solely on him. He’s the one that’s in control of the team.
Riley has handed out some bad contracts for sure. Good for my Pacers…addition by subtraction. Cleveland going down. Atlanta won’t return…the little guard could not get his shot/hit a shot in summer league. Leonard leaves Toronto…they have to tank/rebuild….we are moving up! Celtics/Pacers….Philly big guy gets hurt….Knicks worry me.
Those contracts Riley gave out over the last 3yrs or so are really killing us(Whiteside,TJ,) mostly, but I don’t think its all on Riley. Yes he makes most of the decisions but please keep in mind the NBA is a business, so it’s not really the players telling the team the exact number they want on a contract, it’s more their agents looking at the market (players signing similar deals,TV money,etc) an I think that ended up hurting us. It was either negotiate on a more “favorable number” or watch the players leave.
No one put a gun to his head on the TJ contract – he didn’t have to match. That’s one he should’ve walked away from.
I think the Heat will surprise this year. Top 4 in the east if whiteside gets motivated.
Not saying much when east is crap.
Just have to stay relatively healthy for once. Whole team.has been hurt the last few years essentially
I really wish people that dont know anything about basketball, and/or those who have never seen them play, would stop talking about the Heat. I’m with Pat Riley
I am not going to criticize someone for laying it out there. I wish more people did, and that is one of the advantages of the NBA vs other leagues– gossip gets public. Also, hurray for the truth, whether the blame game is played or not. So Riley gets a pass with me… however… He has overpaid players, instead of using his ability to recruit.