Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem recently offered some insight into the mentality of team president Pat Riley.
Haslem said he learned from Riley that whenever there’s a chance to get a “whale,” the opportunity can’t be passed over.
He said he’s heard Riley talk about certain types of players who “no matter what, if they come up and they’re available, you make the move that you gotta make to get ’em.”
It’s no secret that Riley likes to hunt for “whales” in the NBA. The problem is that in recent years, his efforts (regardless of how strong or passive) have come up short whenever the Heat have been connected to star players.
Players like Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard were all linked to the Heat before being traded elsewhere. While Riley might have had varying levels of interest and urgency in trying to acquire those players, any one of them would have represented a major splash for the organization.
To add insult to injury, earlier this season, the Heat lost the face of their team when star forward Jimmy Butler asked for a trade and eventually got one. Miami is now low on star power, although the presence of players like Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins shouldn’t be swept under the rug.
The Heat do have some nice pieces but are 11 games under .500 for a reason. Riley is going to need to find a way to build the squad back into a contender, as a 29-40 record through 69 games isn’t what anyone had in mind for Miami going into the season.
The franchise has certainly landed some whales in the past — with Heat icon LeBron James being the most glaring example — but that was a long time ago, and some Miami fans are growing tired of disappointment.
The Heat have played in the NBA Finals twice since the start of the 2019-20 season but are still trying to win their first championship since the Big 3 era. They weren’t able to get over the hump with Butler in the fold, perhaps partly because they were never able to add another top player alongside him.