The upshot of Pat Riley’s annual State of the Heat postseason media session Monday at FTX Arena was that he views his present roster as ok to once more contend.
But as a result of he’s Pat Riley, the bar hardly ever is about by the Heat’s president as merely being ok.
“If we ran it back,” he stated, “we would have a very good team. But you have to be, I think, very proactive in looking at how you’re going to improve.”
So, sure, eyes are already on one thing higher.
“You can always think about running it back and be successful,” he stated. “But is that going to be what’s going to lead to a championship? That’s all you think about.”
The Heat closed the common season with the No. 1 playoff seed within the Eastern Conference, their season ending one sport from the NBA Finals.
In the wake of coach Erik Spoelstra final week expressing a willingness to maneuver ahead with the identical core, Riley appeared extra open to vary.
“I think we all realize that we can always use more, especially when you’ve gone through a season and then you’ve gotten results and then you begin to really analyze the result and why it wasn’t as good as maybe you thought it should be,” he stated. “So we’re always going to try to improve the team. I think that’s what it’s about.”
In the wake of the departure of Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, conjecture started over the weekend about the way forward for Donovan Mitchell. Several different NBA attack-minded scorers, the kind of gamers Riley indicated may greatest increase Jimmy Butler, even have swirled amid the rumor mill.
“You can always use more,” stated Riley, who over the previous three summers made dramatic offseason splashes with the signings of Butler and Kyle Lowry. “But it’s bought to be a great match. But not at the price of doing one thing that may very well be form of prohibitive. So we are going to look, we are going to discover.
“If there’s something from outside that unveils itself that doesn’t cost us an arm and a leg, I would always be interested in looking at that. But I think we have what we need internally.”
Among different subjects Riley addressed:
— He harassed the importance of getting a 3-point risk reminiscent of Duncan Robinson.
“The first playoff game this year, he got 27 points,” he stated. “And he’s a specialist, and you can’t win in this league without having them.”
But extra is also sought.
“Yes, Duncan can improve,” he stated. “That message has been delivered to him many times.”
— He stated he sees worth in impending free agent Victor Oladpio, however didn’t talk about a worth level.
“I thought he had some great moments for us,” he stated. “You do want gamers that may break down gamers on their very own, or with their quickness and slashing can create their very own pictures.
“We’ll see where that goes. He’s a free agent. We have his Bird Rights. We will definitely be talking to his agent.”
— He harassed a objective of retaining 37-year-old beginning energy ahead P.J. Tucker, who has a participant choice to enter free company.
“P.J. is like a cornerstone,” he stated. “I would love to have Tuck back next year. He’s part of our core.”
— He stated it’s not unreasonable to anticipate extra offensively from heart Bam Adebayo.
“This could be a year of: How can Bam be developed in a way to improve his consistent shot ability every night?” he stated of the 24-year-old huge man. “I feel there’s one other stage at his age now.
“It can’t always be effort, on running, on lob dunks, on little floaters. There is another level we need more consistency to create good shots.”
— He stated the playoffs served as an essential eye-opener to his youthful gamers reminiscent of Max Strus.
“Max found out I’m not a 40 percent shooter against the Celtics,” he stated. “His game has to change a little bit, but he knows this.”
— Of Udonis Haslem’s annual retirement query, Riley stated of the large man who turns 42 Thursday, “We want him to be in this organization as long as he wants to be.”
— Of the March courtside incident involving Butler, Haslem and Spoelstra, he stated, “It occurred, and it was dealt with — shortly. And they bought past it.
“When things don’t go well, they get to snapping to one another. That can’t be a regular occurrence. I didn’t like it. They didn’t like it.”
— Of rookie heart Omer Yurtseven, he stated, “He definitely needs to improve in certain areas of strength, mobility, footwork, back to the basket, also defensively.”
Of presumably with the ability to play Yurtseven alongside Adebayo, “Probably they could.”
He stated he understood Spoelstra tabling that choice.
“You hate to experiment during the course of the season in a way where it’s going to cost you wins,” he stated.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com