The Big Flip & More
Take into account, Riley flipped Hassan Whiteside and unfortunately Josh Richardson into Jimmy Butler and Meyers Leonard, without any cap space to speak of. He legitimately got into a conversation about acquiring a league MVP, which he only turned away from after deciding the cost was too high. To throw a cherry on top, he drafted Tyler Herro who appears to be something special, when the draft is admittedly not his thing and hard to hit a home run on in the range the Heat picked.
Pat Riley is winning the offseason, even without landing Westbrook. Plainly and simply, the Pat Riley slander must stop, as it’s always been about trusting him to do what’s best.
In Riley we trust isn’t only a clever phrase, but it is symbolic of what Heat Culture stands for. Everything he has been able to accomplish in Miami is proof of that.
Let’s just hope that Pat Riley anxiety doesn’t kick in, giving him the feeling of having to do something, which is one of the only side effects of being as good as he has been. This would manifest itself in the form of something like spontaneously taking on Chris Paul and the remaining $124 million dollars across 3 years on his contract, with the last year being a player option that the then 36-year-old will most definitely exercise.
This fear is based on rumor and speculation from the Westbrook deal but was cemented by the head speculator and ESPN news breaker Mr. Woj Bomb himself, Adrian Wojnarowski. Chris Paul still has something to offer a team, but that team shouldn’t be the Miami Heat. He is still a good player, but can he be that player across 82 games, or even 75 percent of that and a playoff run?
Houston hoped to find third-team destination preferable to Chris Paul, but ultimately leaves it OKC to execute next step once Presti confers w/ CP3 agent Leon Rose. Miami remains possibility for Paul (3 years, $124M) -- and OKC obviously has picks to incentivize deal, if needed.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2019
After what he has been able to pull off thus far this offseason, we should trust that Riles won’t steer us wrong now. Besides and again, all he’s done so far this offseason is win.