Miami Heat president Pat Riley had to adjust and endure mightily since losing LeBron James before this season. Riley confessed it was “all business” when reacting to LeBron’s departure at the time and made the effort to ensure the Heat would remain competitive, most recently by completing a trade for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline.
Riley addressed the Heat’s effort to make a push towards the end of the season, which was likely hindered by Chris Bosh’s health, but after making four straight NBA Finals appearances, the Heat were not able to will themselves into the playoffs.
Riley addressed the media to discuss the immediate future for the Heat, via Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald:
Pat Riley on the season says it would have been nice to see the team he put together play at least one game together.
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
Pat Riley on signing Goran Dragic: “If he doesn’t sign, my ass is going to be in that seat and I’ll be writing about it.” — Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
Dragic will reportedly opt out of his final year with the Miami Heat. His free agency this summer calls into question whether or not he will truly re-sign.
Pat Riley on the draft: “No more smiling faces with hidden agendas, so we’ll be going in clean.” — Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
This could have been taken as a slight at LeBron, who made public lobbies for the Heat to draft UConn guard Shabazz Napier. The Heat did just that, but LeBron would obviously not end up playing with him.
But Riley cleared the air:
Pat Riley on #SmilingFacesHiddenAgendas comment: “That could be anyone across the board.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
Pat Riley on LeBron leaving, one year later: “Yes, I’m at peace with it.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
More from Riley’s press conference:
Pat Riley on Dwyane Wade: “He’s got to change the narrative himself on his body and missing games.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
Pat Riley on Dwyane Wade: “There’s no doubt we’re going to need Dwyane every single night that he’s available.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
Pat Riley says the Heat will be back next season as a contender despite many people saying the Heat will not.
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) April 20, 2015
And finally from Riley, via Surya Hernandex of FOX Sports Florida:
“Re-inventing yourself is taking a hard look and saying what can I do to improve what I do as a head coach or as a president or as anybody to bring something different to the table next year that will make the result a lot different,” he said. “I challenge myself more then anybody else to make sure that what happened this year won’t happen again.”
Riley has plenty of work to do in returning the Heat to potential glory. We’ll see if he can put the formula together once more.
