Over the years, Pat Riley has established himself as one of the best front office executives in the NBA. From adding players to his team's roster, and building a culture within the organization, the Miami Heat president is considered a master of it.

With his squad missing out on the playoffs this year, many are already expecting him to make a splash once again in free agency to bring in more talent to South Beach. However, that may not be the case as Riley recently revealed, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that the team will focus on their current players and may opt to add key pieces through the trade market instead.

“We are going to focus on our guys, really focus on this group of guys. We have found something about three of these guys, I felt they had something but never really had the platform. We will always observe what’s going on in free agency. We have that flexibility. When you have a draft pick and a lot of players on your team you like, you are in good position to move forward.”

“If you are looking at Golden State and Cleveland, those teams and Houston and San Anontio, the top four teams in the league, what happens to the other teams in the Eastern Conference, yes, you have to say to yourself, I want to get there as quickly as I can and contend.”

“Even if you brought all of these guys back with the 14th pick and some kind of room exception, can you beat those teams? You will never know until you get there. I think the fans here appreciate what we do. They also appreciate we want to bring more quicker to the table. I want to play for that [championship]. That’s what we want to compete for. That’s what it has always been about. You don’t have have to go whale hunting. You can acquire key players via trade, instead of laying out $38 million for a guy. Some of these max numbers are ridiculous. That’s the nature of the collective bargaining agreement.”

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)

Despite not having a legitimate star in their lineup, the Heat were able to turn around their season after their very slow start. They have proven that their unselfish style of play can make them a successful group as long as they believe in each other.

If they'll be able to build on what they started this year, Riley will be wise to not break the team's core, and simply add players who can contribute to their cause and make Heat better.