For years, the Miami Heat was a prime destination for free agents, most especially veterans chasing that elusive ring, mainly because of the presence of their then-Big Three.
LeBron James has been gone for two years as he decided to come home and Dwyane Wade followed suit for his own hometown. Meanwhile, Chris Bosh’s medical status is still unclear. Without his old Three Musketeers, team president Pat Riley was then forced to look for other alternatives and among those was a big one in Kevin Durant.
However, as tremendous as a Durant signing would have been for the team, the chances of landing him were as slim. In a tweet by Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post, this year’s top free agent, at least until he decided to relocate to the Bay Area, told Riley the reason why he did not choose South Beach.
Pat Riley said Durant told him he wanted to go to "a team that could win immediately." Unwilling to wait a year for Heat to build something.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) July 16, 2016
It makes sense. Miami cannot offer even half of the competitiveness that the Golden State Warriors already have even with one arm tied behind their back. The Warriors were a few big plays away from wrapping up what’s arguably the best season in league history.
For Pat Riley and the Heat, they can now turn their focus towards building for the future.
[button width=”full” button size=”bigger” color=”custom” align=”center” textcolor=”#ffffff” texthcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#8b0000″ link=”https://clutchpoints.com/pat-riley-looks-back-mindset-towards-meeting-kevin-durant/”]NEXT: Pat Riley looks back on mindset towards meeting with Kevin Durant[/button]
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