Pat Riley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Rumors: Whiteside, McRoberts, Green, Bosh

March 27th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat have decided they want to keep impending free agent center Hassan Whiteside but are concerned that he’s getting more expensive, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. There were “serious concerns” earlier in the year about giving a huge deal to Whiteside, Jackson hears, but his recent play has taken care of those. Team president Pat Riley and executive Alonzo Mourning have both told Whiteside they’re happy with his progress, but the team can’t hold any formal contract discussions until summer because league rules prevent extensions for players with two-year deals. Whiteside could get a starting salary of approximately $22MM on a max contract, depending on the size of the cap. “I hope [there’s interest],” Whiteside said. “I like the organization. Pat Riley is always going to do a great job of adding people that are going to help you win. It’s not hard to sell to come to Miami. You can always recruit great talent.”

There’s more news from South Beach:

Miami’s decision on how to handle its two open roster spots could be determined by the team’s faith in Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The columnist says if the Heat believe both veteran forwards can contribute in the playoffs, they will likely fill the spots with players from their successful D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. However, if there is doubt about McRoberts and Green, Winderman thinks the Heat will pursue a more seasoned player, suggesting 30-year-old Dorell Wright as a possibility. Wright, who began his career in Miami, played for the Blazers during the past two seasons but spent this year in the Chinese Basketball Association.
With the regular season schedule dwindling, it’s becoming unlikely that Chris Bosh will play again before the playoffs, Winderman writes in the same story. Bosh hasn’t been in a game since February 9th because of concerns about reported blood clots in his left calf. With a western trip looming this week, Winderman notes that the team may not hold another practice before April 4th, which limits Bosh’s chance to return.
Joe Johnson has started riding an exercise bike after games to help build endurance to keep up with Miami’s fast-paced offense, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Johnson chose the Heat over the Cavaliers after agreeing to a buyout with Brooklyn because he prefers an up-tempo style.

And-Ones: Anthony, Marks, Lucas, Tavares

March 6th, 2016 at 11:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

Five years later, no clear-cut winner exists in the blockbuster trade that sent Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets to the Knicks, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. The teams have combined to win just one playoff series since the 12-player deal, Bondy notes, when New York defeated the Celtics in 2013. The Knicks got the superstar they wanted, but Denver wound up with two young but frequently injured players in Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. The Sixers benefited, as the Knicks’ first-rounder was sent to Denver, which later traded it to the Magic, which dealt it to Philadelphia, which ended up with the rights to Dario Saric.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Sean Marks, whom the Nets hired as GM last month, said he has tried to learn something important during every stop in his NBA career, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. As a player, Marks spent two seasons under current Heat president Pat Riley from 2001 to 2003. “The vision of it’s not about me,” Marks said. “Pat Riley’s, ‘The disease of me,’ I’ve obviously taken that from him.”
John Lucas III, who played briefly with the Pistons last season, has been waived by the Pacers affiliate in the D-League, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor. The move took place because he has plans to sign with an overseas team, Reichert hears.
The Hawks sent center Edy Tavares to the Austin Spurs in the D-League, the team announced today. Tavares has appeared in 12 games with Austin this season, but also two with Canton and two with Bakersfield because the Hawks don’t have a direct affiliate. He is averaging 9.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in D-League play.
The Clippers have assigned guard C.J. Wilcox to the Cavs affiliate in the D-League. The Clippers also don’t have a direct affiliate, so Wilcox has played for Canton and Bakersfield in two prior D-League stints this season. His D-League averages are 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 15 games.

Atlantic Notes: ‘Melo, Bargnani, Marks, Colangelo

March 4th, 2016 at 11:14am CST by Chuck Myron

A market for Carmelo Anthony would exist if the Knicks decide to trade him and he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause, but the Knicks shouldn’t expect to end up with a return that resembles what they gave up to trade for him five years ago, multiple NBA team executives tell Fred Kerber of the New York Post. An exec from an Eastern Conference team suggested New York could get an established player and a pick for ‘Melo, though he raised questions about his health, trade kicker and relative appeal compared to other stars, Kerber relays. That same exec also told Kerber that he doubts Anthony would waive his no-trade clause to go to relatively unappealing teams that the Knicks might view as desirable trade partners. Two of the executives with whom Kerber spoke said the Knicks shouldn’t have re-signed him in 2014 and instead would have been wise to have done a sign-and-trade at the time. See more from the Atlantic Division:

Andrea Bargnani continues to draw offers from overseas, and Olimpia Milano team president Livio Proli claims that he wants to play in Europe, as Proli said to the Italian outlet Tuttosport, according to Eurohoops.net. The Italian team wants Bargnani for next season, while Turkey’s Galatasaray has made him an offer for the rest of this season, coach Ergin Ataman said, as Eurohoops.net also relays. The former No. 1 pick bought his way off the Nets last month.
New Nets GM Sean Marks took an unconventional path to his job, but he’s leaning on what he learned from familiar front office stalwarts Pat Riley and Spurs bosses Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post details.
Bryan Colangelo confirmed to Dave McCarthy of Vice Sports Canada that he was a finalist for the Nets GM vacancy that went to Marks and talked about Bargnani and other players from his tenure as Raptors GM. Colangelo’s name has been linked in speculation to Sixers, where father and chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo is considering a front office addition.

Southeast Notes: Porzingis, Wade, Wizards, Magic

January 29th, 2016 at 11:12am CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic were determined to land Kristaps Porzingis in the 2014 draft and GM Rob Hennigan promised to take him with the No. 10 pick if he stayed in the draft that year, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Instead, he withdrew, and as he prepared for the 2015 draft, the Magic realized he wouldn’t slip past fourth, even though the Knicks had talks about swapping the No. 4 pick for a wing player and another first-rounder up until the day of the draft, Wojnarowski adds.

“Rob had a thorough, comprehensive plan,” Miller said to Wojnarowski. “He had invested as much, or more time, into Kristaps as anyone in the league. He really studied him. They had a plan for supplemental training, development. It wasn’t just, ‘Let’s just draft him and see what happens.’ This was a plan. Kristaps knew the plan and just wasn’t ready.”

Porzingis would have had the Magic’s blessing to remain overseas for a year had they drafted him in 2014, but as the 2015 draft approached, Porzingis’ camp wanted him to end up with the Knicks, as the Yahoo scribe details. Agent Andy Miller withheld him from working out or taking a physical for the Sixers, who had pick No. 3, Wojnarowski notes. The Magic wound up drafting Mario Hezonja with the fifth pick. See more from the Southeast Division.

Pat Riley said LeBron James never asked him to fire Erik Spoelstra, as previously rumored, as Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald relays, rounding up comments the Heat team president made Thursday. Riley also said he’s proud of Dwyane Wade for “how he has come back and changed the narrative about himself and worked on his body,” Skolnick notes. Wade hits free agency again this summer.
A third straight loss that dropped the Wizards to 20-24 prompted a players-only meeting Thursday, as J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic details. Jared Dudley, referring to himself as the spokesperson for the team, implicated the coaching staff in his comments following the meeting, as well as a return to a lineup featuring both Marcin Gortat and soon-to-be free agent Nene, who’s been marginalized most of this season. “The flow has been terrible for us these last couple games. That’s something that players and coaches have to do a better job,” Dudley said. “At times it’s good to play Nene and Gortat together. … What team are we trying to be here? We can’t keep coming into this locker room talking about inconsistency because April 15 [when the regular season ends] we’ll all be back at the crib.”
Hennigan last week cited the youthfulness of the Magic roster for the team’s struggles of late, but the team’s players said before the season that wouldn’t be an excuse, observes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. The Magic, tied with the Wizards at 20-24, have evoked memories of last season’s 25-57 disappointment as they’ve lost 11 of their last 12 games, and it indicates little progress under new coach Scott Skiles, who faces a challenge to turn the season around, Schmitz writes.

Pat Riley On Heat’s Title Chances, Wade, Arison

September 8th, 2015 at 2:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rumors surrounding Dwyane Wade this spring made it seem as though another piece to Miami’s LeBron James era stood a decent chance to disappear this summer, but Wade instead re-signed for another year at $20MM, and trade deadline acquisition Goran Dragic committed for the long-term, as expected. Those deals, plus the arrival of No. 10 overall pick Justise Winslow and free agent signees like Amar’e Stoudemire and Gerald Green have team president Pat Riley enthusiastic about the Heat’s chances this season, though he admitted to Dan Le Batard and Jon Weiner of ESPN Radio today that he’d be high on his team no matter the circumstances. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald transcribed that and more from Riley’s radio appearance today. The entire transcript is worth a read, especially for Heat fans, for its insight on what keeps the 70-year-old executive from retiring to his house in Malibu and the way his image affected his teams when he was coaching. We’ll hit the highlights here:

On his expectations for this season:

“I think this team has all of the elements of a championship team. Whether or not you can ever win a championship will depend on a number of factors. I can list them and you can list them. It’s going to come down to this, health, … performance and this guy and that guy. It’s going to come down to can you make shots?”

On whether he was truly worried that Wade would leave:

“Yeah, I had some concern because we have lost players before. … There was a time I said anything is possible because of what had happened with LeBron. The landscape of the NBA now and player mentalities sometimes get into the way of the priorities that you have to face as a player and as also an organization. It really is more than ever a big — big, capital letters — business now. The business has grown tentacles so far from the court … that anything is possible. Deep down in my gut, Dwyane is a lifer here and I felt he and [owner] Micky [Arison] and [CEO] Nick [Arison] would work it out. When you deal with a player like Dwyane at this stage in his career, it’s just not eyeball to eyeball with me and Henry Thomas, his agent. It got a lot more personal in a good way because the owner got involved in it because that’s how much we care about Dwyane.”

On his relationship with Micky Arison:

“Being here for 20 years. I feel blessed. I really do. I feel blessed to be in one city with great people I’ve been with for a long time, a great owner in Micky, his wife, Madeleine. We’ve become more than just boss and employee. We’ve become very good friends. It’s like all your firsts go away. Your first love goes away, your first girlfriend, your first baby. … And then all of a sudden you have to create new firsts. We’ve had a lot of firsts here and they’re gone and now we have to create new one. … Our dream, or my dream, of what we put together in 2010 had not shattered but had changed.”

Eastern Notes: Cavs, Riley, Harkless

April 20th, 2015 at 8:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Cavs improved their win total over last season’s by 20 games and appear to be the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. LeBron James returning to Cleveland was a huge factor in the team’s improvement, but GM David Griffin deserves credit for the moves he made during the last 14 months, as I wrote in his Executive of the Year Candidate piece.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

President of Basketball Operations Pat Riley may have taken a jab at LeBron James during the Heat’s season ending press conference today, Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald writes. “No more smiling faces with hidden agendas, so we’ll be going in clean,” Riley said in response to a question about the draft. When ask to clarify if that comment was about James, he said, “that could be anyone across the board. I’ve already got about half a dozen emails from people I don’t even know recommending [a player], and somewhere in that email or text is always a smiley.”
Maurice Harkless regressed during his third season in the league and Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida believes he is unlikely to remain in Orlando long-term. The forward is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
The Cavs have recalled Joe Harris from their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, according to the team’s website. To date, the guard has played in 48 games for Cleveland this season while seeing only 9.1 minutes per game.

Pat Riley On Stars, LeBron, Bosh, Playoffs

March 12th, 2015 at 8:45am CST by Chuck Myron

The choice LeBron James made to rejoin the Cavaliers this summer “just crushed us,” Heat team president Pat Riley told Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick, but the Hall-of-Famer remains confident that he can build another championship team in Miami. He acquired quite possibly the best player dealt at the trade deadline, swinging a deal for Goran Dragic, but he did so having already learned of Chris Bosh‘s pulmonary blood clots that ended his season, as Riley revealed to Skolnick. Riley feels as though he was a better coach than he is an executive, but with his 70th birthday coming later this month, he made it clear that he has no desire to coach again, as Skolnick relays. Retirement from the front office crossed his mind while LeBron was still with the team, but it isn’t a consideration now, Riley told Skolnick, though he also indicated during the interview that he’ll probably retire right after he wins his next championship.

Skolnick’s entire piece provides a broad sketch of Riley, dating back to his humble NBA beginnings in the 1960s. It’s worth a full read, but we’ll pass along a few notable quotations from Riley about current-day Heat issues:

On his philosophy of attracting established stars:

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be able to see what it takes. If you can get three of those kinds of players and fill it out with some other good guys, then you might be ahead of the curve. … So there are a lot of ways to skin a cat. For me, it’s not through the draft, because lottery picks are living a life of misery. That season is miserable. And if you do three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I’m in an insane asylum. And the fans will be, too. So who wants to do that?”

On LeBron’s departure:

“That was almost shocking to me that the players would allow that to happen. And I’m not just saying LeBron. I mean, the players, themselves, would allow them to get to a state where a guy would want to go home or whatever it is. So maybe I’m dealing with a contemporary attitude today of, ‘Well, I got four years here, and I think I’ll go up there for whatever reason I went.’ You know, the whole ‘home’ thing, I understand that. But what he had here, and what he had developed here, and what he could have developed over the next five or six years here, with the same team, could have been historic.”

On the Heat’s post-LeBron plans:

“Our plan was always to move to great as quick as we could, past good. And I think that was more disappointing than anything, once we made that deal, to see what happened to Chris, which was devastating to me just from a personal standpoint. For his health. But also for the team, it was another hit. That’s why it would be so great for this team, we’re in this race here, if somehow we could get into the playoffs and make something of it. But I do think we have enough, in that in any series with anybody in the East, with what’s going on in the East, that you never know. And I love that.”

Pat Riley On Heat Offseason

July 30th, 2014 at 7:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Heat President Pat Riley spoke to reporters today via a teleconference in regards to Miami’s offseason, losing LeBron James to the Cavaliers, and the franchise’s prospects for the upcoming season and beyond. Ira WInderman of the Sun Sentinel recapped the interview, and here are some of the highlights:

Discussing his re-tooled roster:

“I feel very good about where we are right now, at this moment, with the 12 guys under contract. Unlike a lot of the prognosticators . . . I feel with all the conversations I’ve had with these players, that we’re going to be up to the challenge.”

On the departure of James:

“You recover. I don’t want to go back in history, but after 45 years of being in the league, I think I’ve been around 15 transcendent players that walked out the door . . . and you move on. We were shocked, but we recovered. It was a tough blow to take, but we’ve recovered very well, and I think we will continue to recover.”

Discussing his plan entering this year’s free agency period:

“I went in with the notion that he [LeBron] was coming back. So I was selling it to players. I let him know that prior to free agency, that was the direction I was going. He never said to me, ‘Don’t do that‘.”

Discussing re-signing Dwyane Wade despite his recent injury history:

“When it comes to Dwyane, we’re just going to see where we are with him. And we think with what he’s done this summer, there’s the possibility of Dwyane can return to where he was before he ceded a good part of his game to LeBron, and the same thing with Chris.”

On re-signing Chris Bosh:

“He’s the most versatile big man in the NBA. And that’s what the market was for him, and Micky [Arison] stepped up to the plate. . . . I’ll be [expletive] if I was going to let him walk out the door.”

On signing Luol Deng late in the free agency rush:

“I think the first day that I met with him, I truly believe if we could have signed him, he would have signed. At that time, we were an exception team. We were sort of dealing with the thought we were an exception team. . . . So that discussion had to take a number of meandering roads. But he knew that we wanted him, that we would do whatever we could to get him.”

And-Ones: Crawford, Hayward, 76ers

July 8th, 2014 at 10:11pm CST by Ryan Raroque

With a logjam at the guard spots and limited payroll flexibility, the Warriors are willing to help Jordan Crawford find his next team with a sign-and-trade deal, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The source added that the former Xavier guard has drawn interest from the Bulls, Mavericks, Lakers, Knicks, and Nets (Twitter links).

You can find more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below:

The Hornets were pleased with their meeting with Gordon Hayward today, but the Jazz maintain that they’ll match any offer sheet for the 24-year-old forward, tweets NBA.com’s David Aldridge.
76ers GM Sam Hinkie said that he’s involved in plenty of conversations, but not as many as the media has been reporting, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hinkie doesn’t think the addition of a high-profile guard will hurt Michael Carter-Williams‘ confidence, adding that the 2013/14 Rookie of the Year is the team’s point guard of the future.
Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will not be in attendance during LeBron James‘ meeting with Pat Riley tomorrow, a source tells Zac Jackson of FOX Sports Ohio.
ESPN’s Marc Stein says he’s been strongly advised to dismiss rumblings that Nike has purchased billboards in Cleveland in anticipation for LeBron’s eventual free agency decision; however, It doesn’t mean that LeBron has ruled out a return to the Cavaliers either (Twitter links).
Former Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin will join the Kings as an assistant coach, a source tells Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. A week ago, we relayed that Corbin was set to interview for a spot on Michael Malone’s coaching staff.
Nik Stauskas is slated to sign his rookie deal with Sacramento today, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
Timberwolves president/head coach Flip Saunders admits that he should have sent Chase Budinger to the D-League last season for a rehab assignment last season, noting that the swingman’s return from knee surgery has been a tough transition (Twitter link via Nate Sandell of 1500 ESPN).
The Knicks added Joshua Longstaff and Rasheed Hazzard to Derek Fisher‘s coaching staff, notes Jonah Ballow of NYKnicks.com. Longstaff was previously a Thunder assistant, while Hazzard formerly worked for the Lakers.
Former Oakland star Travis Bader signed a deal with ASVEL in France but would be allowed to opt out of his contract if he can make an NBA roster, writes Brian Calloway of the Detroit Free Press.

Heat Big Three Will Give Riley Time To Upgrade

July 1st, 2014 at 12:48am CST by Zachary Links

12:48am: In an update to his story, Wojnarowski writes that Bosh, Wade, and Udonis Haslem have the framework of deals in place to remain with Miami, arming Riley with his limitations within the salary cap to sign talent, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

“Everybody has their [contract] number and has left a little bit of room to let [Riley] maneuver,” one source briefed on the contract discussions said.

With that bit of space, Riley plans to look into free agents including Marcin Gortat and Marvin Williams.

8:16pm: As free agency starts, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade plan to give Pat Riley a window to enact his plan for upgrading the team’s supporting cast, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

Of course, much of what Riley can do will depend on how much breathing room he has to operate with. There was some hope that James would take less than the max deal to help the Heat reload, but earlier today we learned that’s not in the cards. LeBron met with Wade and Bosh to discuss salaries over the weekend, so it will be up to Wade and Bosh to take discounts if the Heat are going to add a free agent of note this summer. Both Bosh and Wade, along with LeBron, took less than the max to sign with Miami in 2010, so it remains to be seen if they’ll take another pay cut.

Teams will be blowing up all three of their phones when the clock strikes midnight tonight, but LeBron, Wade, and Bosh will give Miami an opportunity to prepare a battle plan before they consider going elsewhere.