After missing the playoffs in three of the previous five seasons, the Miami Heat is back near the top of the Eastern Conference standings this year.
But with the NBA suspending play on March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Heat and the rest of the league are still waiting to find out if the playoffs will even be held this season. For Heat president Pat Riley, aside from the real-life coronavirus consequences, not getting the opportunity to watch this Heat team finish the season would be one of the most disappointing ramifications stemming from the league shutdown.
“We had a very, very good basketball team,” Riley said in a video released Wednesday by the Heat. “Very well-coached, and I think we proved it on the court night in and night out. We overcame some adversity, some injuries. When that happened, next man up. That’s one of (Erik Spoelstra’s) sayings. I think we were (41-24) or something along those lines and headed to home-court advantage in the playoffs. It was a great year. I’m really disappointed that we haven’t seen the finish, especially after we made the trade when we brought in Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder. I thought that was going to give us a little bit of an edge going into the playoffs.”
The Heat entered the shutdown with the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 41-24. The NBA playoffs were scheduled to begin April 18, with the Heat owning home-court advantage in a first-round series against the Indiana Pacers based on the current standings.
“For all of us when we started the season, we thought we had something good,” Riley said in the video. “Especially when we had the opportunity to sign Jimmy Butler. We didn’t really know how great Tyler Herro or Kendrick Nunn or Duncan Robinson, Chris Silva at times and a lot of our young guys, Derrick Jones Jr. And having Goran (Dragic) and having Jimmy Butler and having Bam (Adebayo), who has been around three years and having Meyers Leonard and his infectious personality and Kelly Olynyk.
“For all intents and purposes, I’m so happy that we turned a lot of things around and we found the right players, the right mix of pick-and-roll players, guys that can post up and really found a couple of guys that can shoot the ball — really shoot the ball — so we’re happy for that and we’re really optimistic about moving forward into the future with these players.”
With the entire NBA calendar likely to be pushed back if the 2019-20 season is saved, there are also plenty of questions regarding the timing of the NBA Draft, free agency, summer league play and other important dates around the league.
When it comes to free agency, Riley said the organization is using a wait-and-see approach.
The Heat has its own free agents to make decisions on this year, with Dragic, Crowder, Leonard, Jones, Hill and Udonis Haslem all set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. And Olynyk has a $13.2 million player option to decide on this offseason, too.
“As far as free agency, that’s up in the air,” Riley said in the video. “We don’t even know when that’s going to happen. Right now, we know it’s July 1. (General manager) Andy (Elisburg) and I are probably doing more machinations on the probabilities. You have to remember we have six or seven free agents ourselves, but we also have nine other players that are under contract and guys that we really like, so we’ll continue to sort of just create possibilities, what can possibly happen.
“We don’t know what the cap number really is going to be, but we feel confident that the cupboard is full, and what I mean by full is that we do have a lot of very good young players that have proven that they can play at a real high level in this game and they’re fearless, and, yes, we’re very concerned about our pending free agents. We like all of our players and so when we get to that time we’ll know what direction we want to go in.”
Whether this season is saved or not, Riley’s goal hasn’t changed. At 75 years old, he wants to build another championship team.
“I don’t have much patience. You know me,” Riley said, with the Heat set to have enough cap space to sign a max player in the summer of 2021. “I want to build another championship team and we’re close. Maybe we need another player. Maybe we need less. I don’t know. The point is we’re right there and we’re a contender, and I’m proud of that.”
— Riley also said in the taped sit-down interview that “all 30 teams, the front office, the commissioner’s office, the National Basketball Players Association, the owners” have been on conference calls recently to discuss the future of the league amid the pandemic.
“They would like it — and I know the league would like it — they would like to complete the season and whenever they decide to start it up again,” Riley said. “I think that’s a very important thing for all of the franchises, complete the season even if it moves on later. I think we’re all right behind Adam Silver and him waiting until he launches us back into action, this is where we are. We have to work from inside, guys have to stay in shape, coaches have to stay sharp.”
— Riley said he was “stunned” when he learned the NBA season was suspended in the middle of the Heat’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena on March 11.
“I think everybody was stunned and we really didn’t know what it meant,” he said. “We heard that a player from the Utah Jazz had tested positive. But I didn’t think it was going to last that long or turn out to be what it is today for not only the Heat, but for everybody to have to shut it down. Shut the country down, shut the world down and try to fight this thing. So it was pretty innocent that night only from the standpoint that, ‘OK, we can take care of this and then we’ll be back.’ But I think Adam Silver made an incredible move, and that just sort of cascaded into a lot of other decisions by other teams and other sports and industries.”
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