The Miami Heat are operating in an era they never saw coming just five years ago. They were fresh off an NBA championship, LeBron James Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were all happy and healthy leading the Heat to what would be another NBA title just a few months later.
Now it’s November 2016 and the Heat aren’t the same team from their most recent title run. LeBron James left to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, Chris Bosh is all but formally done with the Miami Heat and probably the most crushing blow of all, Dwyane Wade left to play for his hometown Chicago Bulls.
So with a team falling so dramatically from a contender to an early season 2-8 record, the eyes have to be looking towards the future. A future with Hassan Whiteside, the new 50 million dollar man Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow.
The 2017 NBA Draft is already projecting to be a deep one full of talent beyond the first five guys or lottery picks. The Miami Heat have their pick in this upcoming draft and they are looking to get another one. That’s right, Pat Riley, a man who has been against the draft for a long time, is looking to get another draft pick.
Following from David Aldridge of NBA.com.
As someone who’s been around long enough now to do multiple rebuilds, other than obviously looking for talent, what kinds of characteristics do you look for in players when you’re beginning the process of starting over?
Pat Riley: Well, right now, it’s talent. It’s not the same level of talent that we saw in Dwyane or Caron Butler, what we saw in Alonzo Mourning when we traded for ‘Zo. It’s the raw talent that we can find. So talent is still, always and will forever be at the top of the list. So we feel that with Hassan, and with Justise and Tyler (Johnson) and Josh (Richardson), and some of the new guys who we got this summer, four or five of those young guys can create a nucleus. We have a pick this year. I have intentions, if it’s possible, to try and get another pick. And then we will have room. And so from that standpoint, you start making a plan and formulating what it looks like down the road, but you’re going to have to get some breakthroughs — from Hassan, from Justise, from Tyler, from Josh. And then you’ll see where you go from there.
(Important to note, Pat Riley didn’t include Goran Dragic in this statement. *slowly sips tea*)
