It’s no accident that the Miami Heat have emerged as serious contenders for two of the summer’s top trade targets. Despite having a star-studded cast that includes Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, and Bam Adebayo, Heat President Pat Riley isn’t satisfied with the roster as it is.
He wants his team to grow and improve by any means necessary in an effort to meet his goal of winning one more championship before calling it quits.
“Pat Riley is a wizard,” said ESPN’s Nick Friedell while talking about the Heat’s pursuit of superstar Kevin Durant. “He always seems to find a way. And somebody told me at Thomas & Mack Center last night, Pat’s 77 years old. He desperately wants one more title before he retires and gets out of the game. Kevin is that dynamic scorer that Jimmy Butler needs next to him to get the Heat over the hump.”
Pat Riley has a very specific reputation in the NBA. His careers as a player, coach, and team executive have brought him a lot of success, but it has also helped him to master the art of building title-contending teams.
Just based on his presence, there is a sense that Miami can pull off the impossible when it comes to striking a deal for Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell.
“If anybody can figure something out like this in ways that to the naked eye you can’t see it,” said Skip Bayless on Riley. “Trust me but, and by all accounts, he is feverishly working behind the scenes to try to figure something out (for Durant). I believe Pat thinks of Kevin what Jerry thinks of Kevin. In so doing, Pat says, ‘I wanna win at least one more title here before I’m finished, and the one guy who can do that for me the fastest is that guy. If in fact he’s available, I have to figure out how to go get him at any cost.”
Riley turned 77 in March. He doesn’t have too much longer before the end of his time in the league as an executive.
As a guy who has achieved so much success over his life, it’s only natural that he’d want to end things on a high note. Unfortunately, if he can’t land a star this offseason, it might be years before the man gets his wish.
