Tramon Williams JerseyHere’s what Pat Riley is not going to do this summer: quit.Everything else is on the table.
The Miami Heat president said Monday in his annual end-of-season assessment that no player on the team’s roster will be considered untouchable this
offseason – if the right deal presents itself [b]Tramon Williams Jersey , that is – but quickly added the caveat that the franchise is not looking for a total revamp after going 44-38 in the regular
season and making the playoffs.
”Show me the right name, and I could be all-in on everything,” Riley said. ”You know me. But it’s got to be the right name … that doesn’t happen very
often. Our core guys, we would like to keep together, there’s no doubt. We would
like to keep them together and we’d like to add something to it, but that’s
going to be a challenge.”
He also was clear on his own future: The 73-year-old Riley, who has spent a half-century in the NBA as a player, coach and executive
Patrick Mahomes II Jersey , isn’t going anywhere until managing general partner Micky Arison tells him it’s time to vacate the president’s office.
In other words, the Hall of Famer’s competitive fires are still burning.
”There’s always something that brings you back in,” Riley said. ”There’s something that sucks you back in. … I’m an active participant, and I’m going to
stay that way to the chagrin probably of some of you and probably people in the
organization.”
Riley held exit meetings with players Friday, three days after the Heat’s season ended in a five-game first-round ouster at the hands of the Philadelphia
76ers. He said he hasn’t yet broached the topic of retirement with Dwyane Wade,
for fear of planting that seed. He reiterated that the team wants to try to keep
Wayne Ellington, even with the Heat somewhat handcuffed right now by salary-cap
and luxury-tax challenges. Miami has $111 million already committed to the
as-of-now seven highest-paid players on its books for next season.
And in the case of Hassan Whiteside, the enigmatic Heat center who was a nonfactor in the playoffs and complained about how he was being utilized by
coach Erik Spoelstra
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Whiteside dealt with injuries during the season and didn’t want to wear a knee brace that the Heat insisted upon, and Riley said that if Whiteside and
Spoelstra need an intervention to solve their relationship issues – if any –
he’ll handle it.
Riley also didn’t mince words, saying Whiteside needs to make changes.
”By the time we got to the playoffs I don’t think he was ready,” Riley said. ”He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t in great shape. He wasn’t fully conditioned for a
playoff battle mentally. He, and we, got our head handed to us. The disconnect
between he and Spo, that’s going to take a discussion between them and it’s
going to take thought on the part of coach and also Hassan.
”How will Hassan transform his thinking, 99 percent of it to get the kind of improvement that Spo wants so he can be effective? How can Spo transform his
thinking when it comes to offense and defense and minutes or whatever?”
That word – transform – was a theme of sorts for Riley’s meeting with reporters. He started with a 15-minute monologue on how change has been a
constant throughout his 23 seasons with the Heat
Drew Kaser Jersey , how the team landed transformative superstars like Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal in trades and Wade through the draft and LeBron
James and Chris Bosh in summertime deals.
Come July 1, the Heat will be active on those fronts again – noting that the fan base is clamoring for more.
”Well, we’ll give them more,” Riley said. ”We’ll try to give them more. That’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve been here. That’s what Micky has been
doing, trying to give you more if we can. But we’re not going to do anything
that isn’t smart. We will never do anything that’s really going to hurt the
franchise.”
NOTES: Before Riley spoke, the Heat said guard Tyler Johnson had surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. Johnson was hurt in the opening
seconds of Game 3 of the series against Philadelphia but finished the series. He
will be in a cast for six weeks. The Heat expect him to be ready to begin camp
in September.
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The NFL has denied advertising space in the Super Bowl program for a veterans group that declined to alter language about standing for the national
anthem.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed Tuesday that American Veterans, or AMVETS , submitted an advertisement last week to the third-party publisher of
the game program with the message
James Harrison Jersey , ”Please Stand.”
McCarthy said the league, which has editorial control over the content, asked AMVETS to consider other options for the message, such as ”Please Honor our
Veterans” or ”Please Stand for our Veterans.” The two organizations were unable
to agree on language in time to meet production deadlines.
Commissioner Roger Goodell was sent a letter dated Monday from AMVETS national commander Marion Polk to express the organization’s dismay over what it
called ”corporate censorship.”
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