Something that hasn’t been mentioned here or talked about enough in general, is Miami Heat Team President Pat Riley’s aggressiveness and ability to get into talks surrounding the potential acquisition of other star players this summer. With the assets or lack of that currently are the Miami Heat’s roster, Riley has not only found a way to land Jimmy Butler, but he has been at the center of the talks about acquiring other stars.
He was in on the Russell Westbrook talks before he ultimately landed with the Houston Rockets and has had the Miami Heat near the top of the discussion about Bradley Beal. The Washington Wizards are reported to have offered him a max extension, so while they might not want to trade him, Beal has yet to sign the deal which makes the situation one that is still interesting and fluid.
The Miami Heat weren’t supposed to be this optimistic. Critics and haters thought that the team and Pat Riley would stand by idle, due to the salary cap situation, while watching everyone else and waiting for money to come off the books. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
So, no matter what it seemed to look like before the off-season began, the Miami Heat are in a much better place now. They have increased the optimism on their outlook so much when it didn’t appear that they could. While it’s a lot to digest across one offseason, the indigestion is totally worth it.