Heat president Pat Riley talks Jimmy Butler exit, Tyler Hero extension, direction of team after getting swept.
Riley said that trading Butler represented the franchise’s 14th “retool” or “tweak” since he arrived in 1995.
“We took the deal that we felt was best for us now and also in the future,” he said. “We have a lot of young players. we have some medium-aged players in their prime. Our draft picks are in better order than what they were. And so we have a lot of flexibility. And that’s where the blueprint’s gonna come from this summer.During his end-of-season press conference on Friday, Miami Heat president Pat Riley addressed the Jimmy Butler trade, a potential Tyler Herro contract extension and where the team that finished 10th in the East will go from here.
On that last point: The Butler era is over, but the Heat aren’t in tank mode, according to Riley.
“I only tried to tank twice, and I was successful at it,” Riley said. “Not really successful in the [Dwyane] Wade year, but I was successful in 2008. But I never told anybody I was going to try to tank. I always said we’re going to win.
In 2002-03, the Heat finished 25-57, the league’s fourth-worst record. They fell in the lottery, but they managed to draft a franchise player anyway, using the No. 5 pick to draft Wade. In 2007-08, Riley’s last season as coach, they won only eight games in the season’s first two months with Wade coming off of two offseason surgeries, then traded Shaquille O’Neal in February, shelved Wade in March and finished 15-67, the worst record in the league. They got the No. 2 pick in the draft and selected Michael Beasley with the No. 2 pick.
