Pat Riley did not wish to 'quit' on Warmth, however predicts 'it is a telling yr for the staff'

The Miami Heat completed final season 46-36 and, in contrast to the earlier yr, didn’t make a valiant run from the play-in to the Finals. In a memorable press conference after they misplaced their first-round sequence towards the eventual champion Boston Celtics in 5 video games, Warmth president Pat Riley challenged franchise participant Jimmy Butler to be extra out there and criticized Butler for talking trash about the Celtics. (Butler missed the sequence with a sprained MCL.) Within the offseason that adopted, Miami didn’t signal Butler to a contract extension, didn’t tear down the roster and didn’t make a significant, all-in transfer. On Thursday, in an interview with reporters, including the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang, Riley stated he wasn’t ready to hit the reset button in the summertime however described the 2024-25 season as “essential” and stated it will be “telling.”

“I wasn’t snug in simply saying, ‘OK, I am going to surrender on this staff this yr as a result of we’re a play-in staff,'” Riley stated. “In case you get in, you get in and you then go from there. Two years in the past was an anomaly and we ended up within the Finals. I am going to take the anomaly any day. However we do have an excellent staff.”

Butler missed 22 video games throughout the common season earlier than the MCL harm within the play-in. Tyler Herro missed 40 video games. Terry Rozier, acquired from the Charlotte Hornets in January, appeared in 30 video games however missed the ultimate week of the common season, plus the play-in and the playoffs, due to a neck harm. Rozier appeared in solely 10 video games with each Butler and Herro, and in solely two after Feb. 7. If Butler, Bam Adebayo and Herro comprise the staff’s “core,” then Miami solely had its core on the ground in 27 video games for a complete of 499 minutes.

“We do not learn about this staff as a result of you may’t have Tyler and you may’t have Bam and you may’t have Jimmy play 30 video games,” Riley stated. “So it will be like me saying once I was teaching that Magic [Johnson] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and James Worthy, properly they solely performed 30 video games. From that actuality standpoint, we want everyone. I hope and pray that we could be wholesome this yr to try this.”

Butler reportedly sought an extension at first of the offseason, however, primarily based on Riley’s feedback final Might, it appeared unlikely the 2 sides would attain an settlement. Butler has a $52.4 million participant possibility for 2025-26; till June 30, he can decline that possibility and, in principle, signal a two-year extension value a projected $112.9 million, supplied that the Warmth provide him such a deal. 

“I have never had a variety of dialog with Jimmy about it,” Riley stated. “I’ve talked to his agent at occasions. … I haven’t got to sit down down and have these conferences with [Butler] anymore. He is a really clever man.”

Riley stated that he “would not wish to” lose Butler for nothing in free company. He additionally implied that, for now a minimum of, he is OK with Butler successfully coming into the season on an expiring contract.

“He’ll have the power to choose and we will have the power to increase,” Riley stated.. “So I am making an attempt to get all that considering out of our heads as a result of it is dwelling within the current second and taking part in basketball. So if there’s one thing that is going to tug me down or him down due to that, then we’re not going to carry out at a sure stage. However I feel he is embraced precisely the place he is at, I feel he understands the place we’re at.”

The night time earlier than Riley’s media session, the 35-year-old Butler had 24 factors (on 8-for-11 capturing), 5 rebounds, three assists and three steals in 21 minutes in a preseason victory towards the Atlanta Hawks. “What I noticed final night time and what I hope to see sooner or later this yr is any person that has an opportunity to steer us to that place the place we will play for it,” Riley stated. “That is all you need.” It’s unclear, although, what’s going to occur if Miami stays within the East’s murky center or, worse, takes a step again. Butler, Adebayo, Herro and Duncan Robinson are coming into their sixth yr collectively; that sort of continuity is uncommon in right this moment’s NBA. 

“Six years, yeah, it is a telling yr for the staff,” Riley stated. “It ought to be. They have been collectively for six years. The core has been collectively for six years, they’ve all gotten higher.

“The whole lot adjustments, I feel, for the higher with continuity and the truth that we imagine on this roster. Does it imply that if we do not win this yr or if we do not go deep this yr, there are going to be large adjustments? No, it doesn’t suggest that. However they need to know that this ought to be an important yr for them. They wish to win. They have been [to the NBA Finals] twice, however they wish to win.”

Riley praised the Celtics and the New York Knicks for “going for it” with huge trades and greater payrolls. He stated that the Philadelphia 76ers are “a little bit bit like us” as “they have to be wholesome all yr lengthy.” The Warmth could not pull off a Damian Lillard commerce in the summertime of 2023, and their largest additions in the summertime of 2024 had been veteran Alec Burks and rookie Kel’el Ware. (Caleb Martin left for Philadelphia in free company.) Given the power of the highest groups within the convention, nobody is selecting the Warmth to make it again to the Finals.

“However I imagine on this staff, I really imagine in these guys,” Riley stated. “Bam, Jimmy and Tyler, to some extent, perhaps Terry need to be higher. It is all the time about are you able to produce extra, are you able to be extra, are you able to be collectively extra. I’ve seen the development. … So I feel we now have a core of actually, actually nice gamers who want to seek out one other stage of greatness. That is their time. So take the problem.”

Miami will play its ultimate recreation of the preseason on Friday in Memphis. It’ll open the common season at house towards the Orlando Magic on Oct. 23.