Why Pat Riley will never let the Heat tank, plus why Miami will be 'aggressive as hell' to improve roster

The first thing Miami Heat president Pat Riley said at his end-of-season press conference on Monday is that he's not going anywhere. "I'm not going to retire,"Riley said. "I'm not going to resign. I'm not going to step aside." His attitude now, he said, is the same as it was when he arrived in 1995.

"I want another parade down Biscayne Boulevard," he said. "It may come, it may not, whatever. But it's always been my desire is to win, to win big."

The second thing Riley said -- before he took any questions from the assembled media -- is that he's "really pissed" about how the Heat have fared in recent seasons. "I'm disappointed," he added. "Disgruntled." For the last four years, they've been in the Play-In Tournament. They advanced from there to the NBA Finals in 2023, but have won just one playoff game since then and failed to even qualify this season.

Riley said that he and the franchise are "not proud of" these results. He emphasized, though, that he does not regret Miami's approach.

"We're always going to try to win," Riley said. "We're not going to apologize for it. If we're competing for the last spot in the Play-In, we will fight to the very last breath."

Riley added: "I'm not going to apologize for being a Play-In team." The team "didn't want that" and "would have loved" to finish sixth or higher in the East, he said, but he never considered being a seller at the trade deadline and effectively punting the remainder of the season.

The 81-year-old Hall of Famer's media availability lasted more than an hour, during which he repeated several key points when it comes to the direction of the team: The Heat would love to acquire a star player, they are pleased with their salary-cap flexibility and they want to help Bam Adebayo, not trade him.

"We're at a period right now where you don't make radical changes right now," Riley said. "Not in my philosophy. I'm not going to tank. I'm not going to lose. We're not going to go into the lottery and do that insanity because I will quit if I ever get ordered to go down that road."

Miami started this season 14-7, but couldn't sustain that level of play. Sometimes, Adebayo and Kel'el Ware looked like an imposing frontcourt duo. Other times, coach Erik Spoelstra couldn't even play them together. The Heat lost eight of nine games starting in early December and seven of eight games starting in mid-March. They finished with a 43-39 record and the league's 13th-best point differential.

This is the profile of a middling team, but Riley said he's glad that Miami "reset" the roster the way it did when it traded Jimmy Butler before the 2025 deadline. Several times, he referenced the 2026 lottery pick and the four trade exceptions that the Heat will have at their disposal this offseason: the $16.8 million TPE from the Duncan Robinson trade and the $5.6 million TPE from the Haywood Highsmith salary dump, plus the MLE and BAE. If they sequence their moves right, he said, they can add helpful players with those exceptions ... or, if the right opportunity presents itself, they could make a big, splashy move to land a star.

"It doesn't mean that I'm not going to be aggressive as hell or we're not going to be aggressive as hell to try to make the team better," Riley said. "It's all I've ever tried to do since I've been here."

Riley said that Miami has "tried more than you even know to improve and get better" in the past three seasons, hinting at trades that were "right on the brink" of being made. 

This summer, the Heat are in a tricky position. In theory, they do indeed have a fair amount of flexibility, but Norman Powell and Simone Fontecchio will be unrestricted free agents, Andrew Wiggins has a $30.2 million player option, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson will be eligible for rookie extensions and, for the second straight summer, Tyler Herro will be eligible for a hefty contract extension. If they pay everybody, that flexibility will vanish.

"I think we'd like to be a cap team in '27," Riley said. "I think that's common knowledge."

Riley said that he believes "strongly" that Miami is still a "destination" for star players. Asked directly if he would consider trading Adebayo, he said, "No, I wouldn't," and added that the organization is aligned on this. 

"I want to build this around Bam," Riley said. "I think (owner Micky Arison) wants the same thing. And (CEO Nick Arison) and (general manager Andy Elisburg) and all of us want to. So I'm just going to give you a flat-out no. I wouldn't do that."

With a laugh, Riley then added one caveat: "Unless somebody gave me eight picks and (Victor Wembanyama)."

Riley said that he had a "great exit interview" with Adebayo and could "sense his frustration." He added that the goal is to "try to help (Adebayo) and try to get somebody to help him, somebody who's different." He praised Adebayo for expanding his game in recent years, but said the big man's next step is to improve his offensive efficiency. Adebayo shot 44.2% from the field this season and had a 55.1% true shooting percentage, both of which were career lows.

What's next

On the subject of a Herro extension, Riley said that "you can just go back and get my old quotes." The guard appeared in only 33 games this season, and it doesn't sound like Riley is in a rush to lock him up on a long-term basis unless the price is right. He said the Heat will have "good, honest discussions" this offseason with Herro's agent -- and Powell's agent and Wiggins' agent -- about the team's big-picture plans.

"I think right now we have to show a level of discipline in extending out contracts that are big-money contracts," Riley said. "I think you gotta be a little bit careful with that. It's not an indictment against any of our guys."

Herro and Powell played only 257 minutes together, spread over 18 games, and the Heat weren't good on either end in those minutes. Asked if Miami could have both of them, Riley said that he'd "love to have two 20-point-a-game guys" and they "can coexist if you have the right pieces also around them and also you're playing the right style." Riley lamented that, because of injuries, Herro missed most of the season and Powell's All-Star year took a turn for the worse.

Riley said that he'd like next year's roster to have more length, and, in part because of the Heat's offensive system, they need to prioritize shooting, ball-handling and decision-making. He doesn't "feel any pressure" to make a blockbuster move, he said, "but we will always try." He has never wavered from his belief that, in order to compete for a championship, "you need top-end, bucket-getting closers."

One interesting note, particularly given Miami's reported interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has missed significant time due to injuries but is known for trying to play through pain: Riley said that, when evaluating players, the "first thing I look at" is games played. He said he loves Adebayo because "you can count on him every night" and mentioned Wiggins' durability, too.

"There are a lot of sellers that want to get off of bad contracts," Riley said. And while Miami will "aggressively pursue opportunities" to add high-level talent, it doesn't want "damaged goods."