Pat Riley should have seen this coming.
The Miami Heat re-signed Dion Waiters and James Johnson to expensive, multi-year contracts in the summer of 2017, and added Kelly Olynyk from the Boston Celtics on a similar deal. Continuity is indeed of utmost importance in the NBA, and it seemed unlikely Miami would build on the remarkable second-half success it enjoyed one season prior unless it maintained the status quo.
Just one problem: None of those guys were stars, and none of them had a realistic chance of becoming one. Making the Heat's free-agency spending binge all the more vexing is that they already had several onerous long-term contracts on the books, sapping the team of cap room it could use to sign a star free agent in the coming years.
The expected consequences of that strategy have reared their ugly heads this season, with Miami, beset by injuries, barely clinging to relevance in the Eastern Conference. Regardless, Riley tried his best to assuage concerns about the Heat's future on Wednesday, telling season ticket holders “the sky is the limit for this team in the next couple years.”
Continued: "We have 8 players on this team that are 28 to 20, ok, so we have a good young core. We know the guys that we really value, the young guys in Justise, and Josh, and Bam. But you know, Derrick Jones Jr, he's a hell of a player from that standpoint…" cont.
— Miami Heat Beat (We Just Cover The Team) (@miaheatbeat) February 27, 2019
Continued: "If we could get one or two players to come in with this group, this young group, then I think the sky is the limit for this team in the next couple years."
— Miami Heat Beat (We Just Cover The Team) (@miaheatbeat) February 27, 2019
Talk about wide-eyed optimism.
Miami has been gauging the trade market for Hassan Whiteside for years. Waiters made his season debut on Jan. 2, resuming his career-long high-usage, low-efficiency ways after missing a full calendar year following surgery on his left ankle. Olynyk is shooting a career-low 34.5 percent from deep this season, playing less than he did during his debut with the Heat in 2017-18.
Yes, a core of Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo, and Justise Winslow is intriguing, but hardly the type that could eventually compete for a championship all by itself – nor one that could lure a superstar free agent when Miami finally has cap space come 2020.
Is there a chance the glitz and glamor of South Beach is enough for the Heat to bring in a game-changing player next summer? Sure. Any talk of real optimism from team officials otherwise, though, should be taken with a grain of salt, especially when Pat Riley is the one offering it.
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