Miami was fighting for its life as an 8th seed. Considering they have like 0 picks for d next few years I dont think it was a great job, Riles mortgaged everything for short term gain.
Typical jopatmc Make an outlandish rubbish statement without knowing the facts or basic info around the NBA (such as Bosh is injured and out for the season) and then twist it to fit his agenda Just like from T _ones will be traded if healthy to T _ones will be out of the league in a "few" years to T _ones will never be an all star. Wide range of possibilites there LOL. Anyway Heat without Bosh don't stand a chance against Cavs or the Hawks. I'd even take the Bulls over them even without Rose.
I hope Miami falls flat on its face. It is Riley's roster hubris that allowed Lebron to leave. Kind of annoys me Riley has been able to rebound with the Deng/Dragic additions and the gift of Whiteside. It will catch up to them eventually though.
Let me guess, when Pat Riley is old and dead. "See, I told you he had it coming". I don't like him but he knows what he is doing. So far only mother nature (bosh) and Hakeem (new york) have been able to stop him from winning.
I am not even sure they can make playoffs. Nets, Miami, Hornets, Pacers, Celtics, Pistons, 2 playoffs seats for 6 teams. It will be wild.
Those "short term gains" included two championships and four consecutive finals appearances, something I'd be more than happy to sell our next 5 first round draft picks to accomplish. The Heat gave away picks to both Toronto and Cleveland just to get LeBron and Bosh to Miami in the first place. Given that Miami had no future in the upcoming drafts, Riley did a good job of reloading immediately while also maintaining cap flexibility for 2016. If Bosh hadn't developed lung clots (something Riley obviously has no control over) Miami would've been in the mix for making the finals again for the fifth straight time with roughly a large group of new players.
I'm not referring to d big 3 genius, obv having wade bosh and lebron trumps everything. Im talking about retaining Bosh at 30M a year and Wade at 15. Flexibility for 2016? Are you high? How can they have flexibility when they already had Deng, Wade and esp. Bosh at 30M? And like I said have you looked at their record prior to Dragic? How can they be in the finals if Bosh was healthy when they would be out of d playoffs if they played in the west? You think Dragic is good enough to make them a title contender from 8th seed in the lowly east? Wtf
I'm not referring to d big 3 genius, obv having wade bosh and lebron trumps everything. Im talking about retaining Bosh at 30M a year and Wade at 15. Flexibility for 2016? Are you high? How can they have flexibility when they already had Deng, Wade and esp. Bosh at 30M? And like I said have you looked at their record prior to Dragic? How can they be in the finals if Bosh was healthy when they would be out of d playoffs if they played in the west? You think Dragic is good enough to make them a title contender from 8th seed in the lowly east? Wtf
7 Miami 26 33 8 Brooklyn 25 33 in the hunt: Indiana 25 34 Charlotte 24 33 Boston 23 34 Detroit 23 36 yikes....................
You should check their salary structure before making declarative statements that make you sound silly.
Miami's salary structure does indeed empty out but they are still paying Bosh almost 25 mill a year. Not only that, they also traded for Dragic whom they will most likely retain and will probably keep Whiteside as well so Im not sure where you think Miami will have all this capspace, the contracts expire but I find it hard to believe Miami will just let Dwade go just like that.
Sorry, I make it clear that do not necessarily root for all those teams. They are the strongest in the playoffs IMHO. I like Atlanta's playing style and AB0 and Thibs with the Bulls but that is all.