Miami Heat: It’s time for Pat Riley to retire and walk away

Pat Riley should step down as president because his unrelenting desire to prove that the Miami Heat could win without LeBron James has descended the franchise into mediocrity with no easy way out

National Baseball Hall of Famer, Ford Frick once said:

"Keep your temper. A decision made in anger is never sound."

This is the story of Miami Heat president Pat Riley who was enraged at LeBron James‘s decision to go back home and rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was interviewed as a subject for the book “The Soul of Basketball” written by Ian Thomsen.

During the interview, Pat stated that he was very angry with LeBron decision at first because the team could’ve won 3 to 4 more championships:

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"“I had two to three days of tremendous anger. I was absolutely livid, which I expressed to myself and my closest friends. … My beautiful plan all of a sudden came crashing down. That team in 10 years could have won five or six championships”."

Pat’s anger led him to make some unsound decisions over that summer as he wanted to prove that the organization could still compete for a championship without James. He decided to sign Chris Bosh to a five-year, $118 million deal, the day after Sports Illustrated published LeBron’s I’m coming home letter. Two days later, he signed LeBron’s replacement in Luol Deng to a two-year deal worth $20 million.

A couple of days later, Riley gave Dwyane Wade a two-year deal for $42 million. Unfortunately, this trio never experienced any real success in their first season as they had a record of 22-30 heading into the all-star break. The subpar record played a factor in Pat giving up their 2017, and 2021 first round picks (2021 belongs to 76ers now) to acquire Goran Dragic from Phoenix in a three-team deal.

Unfortunately, Bosh would not return to the court after the all-star game as he was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism:

"A pulmonary embolism “occurs when a blood clot becomes dislodged from another part of the body and travels to the lungs.”"

Bosh’s condition derailed any hopes of making the playoffs as they had an even record over the last 30 games. Despite missing the playoffs, the organization thought they had found a bright spot in Hassan Whiteside because he averaged 13.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks over that stretch.

The following season, the team captured the third seed with a record of 48-34 with Whiteside averaging 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks.  Despite being the third seed, Miami’s slim championship hopes were dashed earlier that season when Chris Bosh developed a second blood clot in his calf.

The second blood clot would end his Miami Heat career as the team refused to clear him over fears that he would suffer a life-threatening injury on the court. Bosh’s condition put Pat in a position where he had to land a big free agent in hopes of keeping the team in championship contention without James.

Consequently, Pat Riley pursued Kevin Durant with the second max contract slot as they used the first slot to re-sign Whiteside. Unfortunately, the team was unable to land Durant as he signed with the Golden State Warriors. Without Durant, Riley attempted to re-sign franchise legend Dwyane Wade to a two-year deal worth $40 million.

However, Wade wanted $46 million throughout the deal because  he wanted some kind of reimbursement for the pay cut he took during the Big 3 era. Pat Riley refused essentially opening the door for Wade to sign with Chicago.

The inability to land two marquee free agents forced Riley to sign several underachieving players in Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington to one-year deals as he tried to remain competitive. Not only did he sign those players but Pat decided to match the offer sheet Tyler Johnson signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

The team would end up being competitive as they were eliminated from the playoffs on the last day of the regular season with an even record. The following off-season, Pat would once again fail to acquire a marquee free agent as Gordon Hayward signed a max contract with the Boston Celtics.

Consequently, he gave Dion Waiters, James Johnson, and Kelly Olynyk multi-year deals preventing the team from participating in free agency the next year. Miami would remain competitive as they captured the sixth seed before losing to Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.

A couple of months ago, Pat would get a fourth chance at acquiring a marquee name as there were reports that Jimmy Butler wanted a trade from Minnesota. The reports propelled him to offer Josh Richardson, Kelly Olynyk and a first-round pick to Minnesota for Butler. Unfortunately, he would strike out again as Minnesota rejected the offer from the Heat.

Pat Riley’s unrelenting desire to prove that the team could win without James has descended the franchise into mediocrity with no easy way out. Therefore, he should step down as president to prevent any more damage to the long-term health of the franchise.

If he stepped down, the team could trade some of the veterans for extra draft picks. For example, they could trade Goran to Philadelphia for Markelle Fultz and their 2021 first round pick. After that trade, they could spin James Johnson and Kelly Olynyk to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and a future first.

These moves would allow the Miami Heat to tank this year, get future draft picks and acquire underachieving young players that they could develop into good players.