Live updates: What Heat president Pat Riley is saying in his press conference
Here’s what Pat Riley said at his season-ending news conference. Keep checking back for updates, which we will add at the top.
1:40 p.m.: Asked about tanking, Riley said he doesn’t know about that and “I don’t believe in that.” That’s not the Heat way. (He did say earlier that the Heat sort of tanked twice before this century but never disclosed it publicly. See below for his comments on that.)
1:35 p.m.: Riley, unsolicited, had one more comment on Jimmy Butler: “What happened with Jimmy, as ugly as it was” he doesn’t want anyone to think “that I didn’t appreciate [everything else]. I love the guy. Those things happened. It wasn’t fun.”
What about trading for an alpha star? “If that talent can help and he’s humble, that’s fine. If it translates to winning, that’s all that counts.”
1:30 p.m.: Does the Heat need another alpha star? “There are some lateral trades that can be made to improve the team. Do we inject an alpha? A great, great player to help maximize our performance in those double digit leads that were lost? It could be that simple.”
1:25 p.m.: Asked about a succession plan and Erik Spoelstra possibly moving upstairs, that’s not the plan with Spoelstra and Riley isn’t leaving.
Riley said: “Spo is in great shape. He needs time to decompress.... I feel great. And Spo is going to be fine.”
1:24 p.m.: Riley, on some people saying Heat culture and the Heat Way don’t work anymore: “It’s a narrative put out by other people who don’t know what it’s like inside here. Our culture has been the way it’s been since I got here. Has it been adjusted in some way, shape or form? Yes, and you have to for this generational player and the legs.”
He said: “I’m proud of the culture and what we’ve created. For people who don’t really know, but it’s fashionable to comment on it and criticize it, the hell with them.
“We have a great culture that hasn’t been crushed. Just because there were some issues this year that were not culture oriented, they were player oriented -- talking about the Butler situation -- our culture is the same.”
1:22 p.m.: Riley said “I still think an aging player can play” and Heat is open to pursuing one: “I’m not against that, no.”
He said it’s working with Golden State with Butler, Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
He said “an aging great, great player may not be able to carry a team. Together they can rise to the occasion in the playoffs. For us, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, I still think an aging player can play.”
Riley mentioned how LeBron James is thriving at 40.
Kevin Durant’s name was not mentioned and teams cannot discuss players on other teams. The Heat is expected to inquire about Durant again this offseason; Phoenix reportedly is looking to trade him. Minnesota and others are expected to be in the mix.
Durant, 36, has one year left on his contract; the Heat and Suns discussed a trade for him in February but could not agree on terms.
1:20 p.m.: Riley said the Heat has to stop being a tax team every year, with consequences particularly punitive in this new CBA. “We have to make an adjustment. It gets punitive financially. This not a priority, but it is in order to manage the financial part of the team. We will try to get out and then back in and re-set it.”
The Heat would trigger the highly onerous repeater tax if it’s a tax team again this year. Miami is $10 million under the tax at the moment, without counting restricted free agent Davion Mitchell.
1:22 p.m.: Riley said “the regular season means a lot to me and means a tremendous amount to the fans. We’ve got to elevate ourselves out of the play in to get to 2, 3, 4... But now I’m thinking rest is overrated. All those teams that had a week off are down 0-2” --- speaking of Cleveland and Boston.
1:19 p.m.: He said Tyler Herro “is one of the most ignitable guys offensively in the league. We’re happy to have him. He’s coming off an All Star year and was voted in by the coaches; that means something. He’s pivotal for us as an offensive player. We need more around him that can do a little more of what he does. Now, he’s getting beat up, getting overly schemed. Tyler is a player. I hope he can stay here the rest of his career and that we can build a team he can be part of. There are going to be nights with those 4 for 20 games. But I’m glad that we got him.”
He said the team is “moving forward” with Herro and Bam Adebayo.
Herro can sign a three-year, $150 million extension between Oct. 1 and 20. (He also can sign a deal for less money then. If both parties wait a year, he’s eligible for a four-year,)
Can the Heat afford to give him a max contract and have enough room under the tax to build a good enough team around him?
“He answered that question perfectly last week. He’s OK” either way, Riley said.
“We’ve already talked about it. I’ve talked about it with Tyler. You’ll see what happens as we plan... Definitely Tyler is deserving of the thought of an extension. But are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it. But we’re going to discuss it. I’ve already talked to him about it. He’s cool.”
1:18 p.m.: Riley disputes the narrative that the Heat is ”bad” but said “we have to make some changes philosophically and personnel wise. We probably won’t run it back. But players aren’t just going to show up. You have to make deals.”
1:18 p.m.: “I just turned 80 and I’m proud of it. The new 80 is the new 60. I feel great. I’m competitive as hell. I love being in the bowl. I’m an Irish guy; there’s a depressive order I have by being just Irish and hating losing. It makes me miserable. When you’re miserable, you get a little depressed. I got a little depressed after the last two games. Micky [Arison] and Nick [Arison] and I met and they’ve been very good to me, and they said ‘carry on, Pat.’ I’m going to carry on and try to make this thing better.”
1:17 p.m.: Riley said the Heat, which has no cap space, won’t run it back but cautioned that “players aren’t just going to show up” and other teams need to want to make deals with Miami.
“You’ve got to look at the board... We are going to work at really, really trying to find something that will really help this team. If it doesn’t, it might take years... [But] we are not going to deal with a long process, nor is ownership.”
1:16 p.m.: On how free agency no longer is a big way to improve the team and whether that has hurt the Heat: “The rules have changed. We could plan back then before the CBA was changed. You could plan in 2006 for 2010. We planned for that and ended up delivering big time on it [by landing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade]. Now, because of all of these CBA machinations, with the repeater tax, first apron, second apron and penalties that come with it, there’s a different thought process.
“When we got the Big Three, we didn’t have anything left. We traded [Michael Beasley]. There’s no doubt getting Udonis Haslem back, Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, that’s what we had. Everything else was a minimum contract. It’s a little different in how you plan now. It could come through trades, through the addition of one or two very good players. It will always be from improvement within but I don’t think we can go there. I’m not going to run it back. We’re going to try to stay away from that. We probably won’t run it back.”
1:15 p.m.: Riley said he has never seen a season take such a toll on Erik Spoelstra and that he needs time to reflect. “He never takes a year off, never takes a break, had some personal issues in his life. I’ve seen the stress on him like I’ve never seen it before. This takes a toll. When I talked to him the other day, he said he was going to Hawaii. I said, ‘good, I’ll see you in training camp. That’s not going to happen....
“He needs a break. He needs time to reflect. He will figure this out. He knows we need to defend first. He needs to make whatever kind of changes he needs to make when it comes to the offense. If he wants to listen to me, he will. If he doesn’t, he has a lot of great people working for him.”
1:10 p.m.: Are major changes necessary? “No. [But] we do have to make changes. There’s no doubt.”
He said he does not believe the Game 3 and 4 blowout losses to Cleveland reflect what this team is:
“We are not reflective of that. Those two losses were humbling. They might have put the final nail in thinking we got to tear everything apart and rebuild. We’ve never done that. Thirteen times, we’ve always found a way to rebuild a team that was respected, that was a contender.”
“I saw a team that 25 times had double digit leads, with 20, 25 point leads. Why we had double digit leads in the fourth quarter and lost 14 of them, that’s more reflective of who we are, competitive guys.”
Riley said: “I only tried to tank twice, and I was successful at it, not really successful in the Wade year, but I was successful in 2008. I never told anyone I was going to try to tank....The rest of the time, there were seven Finals, 12 Eastern Conference finals. We have a great front office, make decisions together. I’m going to live on my track record. That’s all I can live on.”
1 p.m.: On the Jimmy Butler fiasco and telling him to keep his mouth shut last May:
“There’s no doubt what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team. The buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it. What happened in the regular season, I don’t want to discuss.”
He said he doesn’t regret not offering him a contract extension:
“I’m not going to apologize for saying no on the contract extension. We didn’t have to I don’t think I should... It’s over. It’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. And I hope in his heart somewhere he wishes us well too.”
He said the past year and half weren’t “the same” with Butler because he got hurt and then asked for a trade.
Why didn’t the Heat get more future assets in return for Butler? (Miami received Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Kyle Anderson and a first-round pick that landed 20th in next month’s draft.)
“We were pretty much locked in with one team [Phoenix], the team of his choice. It didn’t happen there. We took the deal we felt was best for us now and also in the future. We have young players. We have medium age players in their prime. Our draft picks are in better order than what they were. We have a lot of flexibility. That’s where the blueprint is going to come from this summer.”
This story was originally published May 9, 2025 at 1:02 PM.
