There was a time when everything Miami Heat president Pat Riley touched turned to gold. The man could sell you an igloo in the middle of the desert and have you convinced that you would be able to make use of it.
His shrewdness was at an all-time high during the summer of 2010, when he pulled off what was probably the greatest free agent coup in NBA history when he landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside of Dwyane Wade.
The Heat then made four straight finals, winning two before James dashed off to the Cleveland Cavaliers following a finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. But now, times are tough in South Beach.
Miami owns a record of just 26-31 and is not even remotely close to contending in the Eastern Conference. As a matter of fact, there seems to be a good chance that the Heat won't even make the playoffs.
The multi-year contracts Pat Riley handed to Hassan Whiteside and Kelly Olynyk have not exactly worked out, Goran Dragic has missed most of the season with a knee injury and there isn't much young talent on the roster to be excited about moving forward.
That begs the question: has Riley's run of consistent excellence finally come to an end?
Let's face it: this Heat team isn't going anywhere, and while they do have some decent young pieces in guys like Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Bam Adebayo, their next star probably isn't currently on their roster.
Not only that, but Miami is pretty strapped financially, and if Whiteside and Dragic both decide to exercise their player options this summer (and they very well might), the Heat will be in even more trouble.
Here is another problem: even if Miami is able to open up some cap space over the next couple of years, it is likely going to have some difficulty attracting free agents.
I know fans and the media like to believe that the Heat are some free-agent hot spot because of the warm weather and the South Florida night life, but that just isn't true.
The reason why Miami was able to land James and Bosh during the summer of 2010 was because of the fact that a prime Wade was on the team.
Think about it: since James left in 2014, how much success have the Heat had in signing free agents? Not much. They tried to land Gordon Hayward during the summer of 2017, but he ended up inking a deal with the Boston Celtics. In 2015, they attempted to bring LaMarcus Aldridge aboard, but he opted to sign in stoic San Antonio.
Little by little, Riley's grip on being able to wheel and deal for whatever he wants has loosened, and that has everything to do with the fact that Dwyane Wade is no longer Dwyane Wade.
We live in an era where players simply don't care all that much about big markets and clubs anymore. They want to win. Why do you think the Los Angeles Lakers had so much trouble landing free agents before LeBron? And how about the New York Knicks? Outside of Amar'e Stoudemire back in 2010, when was the last time they made any big free-agent splashes?
The Heat are not going to be able to use LIV to convince players to sign, and to be perfectly honest, they never really were. Again, I know we would like to believe otherwise, but the fact of the matter is that Miami was not a prime free-agent destination before Wade's arrival, and it won't be after he departs, either. The weather and night life just happened to be an added benefit.
That means Pat Riley is actually going to have to land a star through the draft for once. The last time he did that was when he drafted none other than Wade all the way back in 2003. Since then, it has been all trades and signings. Before signing James and Bosh in 2010, Miami traded for Shaquille O'Neal during the summer of 2004, which led to the franchise's first title in 2006.
The Heat also signed role players like Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Jason Williams, Shane Battier and Ray Allen to help them win three championships from 2006 through 2013.
Riley didn't have to draft anyone. He had Wade, and that was all that mattered.
But now, times have changed. Wade will walk off into the sunset after this season, and the Heat will be right back to where they were in the season before they drafted him: in irrelevancy.
Of course, all franchises go through down periods, but Riley is not all that accustomed to what he is about to experience. It might be a long time before basketball is truly back in South Beach.
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