Top News

The Miami Heat know they need to make changes after winning just a single playoff game in the last three seasons. Monday, team president Pat Riley confirmed those changes wouldn’t involve Heat center Bam Adebayo — or himself.

Riley is 81 years old, but he made it clear he has no immediate plans to leave his role as team president and made it just as clear the Heat would not be tanking. While the team will be “aggressive” in improving their roster, they won’t be shopping Adebayo.

Pat Riley is still firmly in charge of Miami Heat

The Heat have not tanked or used high lottery picks to improve since the 2007-08 season, when they went 15-67 in an injury-marred season. That could have been a possibility after the Heat landed in the play-in tournament for the fourth straight year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

He also dismissed the possibility of trading Adebayo, who had a stunning 83-point game this season. Riley claimed he wouldn’t deal his All-Star center for anything short of “eight picks and (Victor) Wembanyama.”

Miami Heat are primed to reload, not rebuild

The Heat had a disappointing season with a 43-39 record and a play-in loss. They do have a lot of options to change up their team.

Miami has a lottery pick in June’s draft and a 4.8 percent chance at a top-four pick. They also have serious payroll flexibility with All-Star Norman Powell’s expiring $20.5M deal and Simone Fontecchio’s $8.3M contract. Jaime Jacquez, Jr. and Tyler Herro are eligible for contract extensions, and Andrew Wiggins has a $30.2M player option, which could lead to a trade or a long-term deal at lower annual money.

The most obvious target is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Players like Draymond Green and Jrue Holiday could be available, as well as a slew of others, depending on playoff results. Riley and the Heat have added countless All-Stars over the years, so the list of targets is long.

The list of players a dissatisfied Riley is willing to trade might also be long. It won’t include Adebayo.