{"id":138761,"date":"2025-05-09T15:40:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T19:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=138761"},"modified":"2025-05-09T15:42:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T19:42:19","slug":"pat-riley-heat-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/09\/pat-riley-heat-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Riley Makes The Heat&#8217;s Offseason Plans Clear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pat Riley has spoken and said the obvious. The Miami Heat will go through deep changes this offseason. Riley said it loud and clear during his end-of-season press conference. They will not bring the same team next season. Let\u2019s talk about potential new additions and who is safe on the team.<\/p>\n<h2>Pat Riley Makes The Heat&#8217;s Offseason Plans Clear<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking with media reporters, Pat Riley talked honestly and openly about the Miami Heat&#8217;s plans for the offseason. He said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe probably won\u2019t run it back. But it doesn\u2019t mean that, you know, players are not just going to show up. You&#8217;ve got to make deals, you have to look at the board. You&#8217;ve got to try to do something that is going to benefit something with your team and your two key guys. If they are your key guys, and I think they are. I think we are probably in as good a situation as we have ever been from a draft pick, young player, favorable contracts situation in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/LegionHoops\/status\/1920897124939583701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Heat will probably be one of the most active teams in the summer. Pat Riley signaled he has big plans for the offseason during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/butleji01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Butler<\/a> trade. He was not looking for salaries that last for several years. Instead, he wanted young players and draft picks. But what can the Heat realistically do this summer? Let\u2019s take a look at their options.<\/p>\n<h3>Can the Heat Sign Free Agents?<\/h3>\n<p>The Miami Heat have $178 million committed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/contracts\/MIA.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">salary<\/a> for the 2025-26 season. For next season, the luxury tax is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com.au\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/44404893\/sources-nba-salary-cap-increase-10-2025-26\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">projected<\/a> to be at $187 million. That means the Heat do not have cap space, but they can offer the full mid-level exception because they are over the salary cap, but below the luxury tax. At the same time, they have to look at their potential <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/29\/predicting-what-happens-with-heat-free-agents\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">free agents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nba\/free-agents\/_\/year\/2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">free agents<\/a> that made up to $18 million this season: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonestr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tre Jones<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portibo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bobby Portis<\/a>(player option), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reidna01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Naz Reid<\/a> (player option), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/finnedo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> (player option), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/baglema01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvin Beagley<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alexani01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beaslma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Beasley<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, none of those will move the needle for the Miami Heat. There are some good role players like Beasley, Portis, Reid, and Alexander-Walker, but nothing splashy or a player that would transform the team.<\/p>\n<h3>Miami Heat Trade Assets and Targets<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_138775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-138775\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres.jpg\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-138775\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_22667953_168404824_lowres.jpg 2046w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-138775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) drives to the basket past Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pat Riley might say that they have some of the best assets to make a move this offseason. Yet, the reality is that they are not as loaded as he would think. The Heat have a 2025 first-round pick coming from the Golden State Warriors, but they do not have their own. They have their own <a href=\"https:\/\/fanspo.com\/nba\/teams\/Heat\/16\/draft-picks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pick<\/a> in 2026, 28, 29, 30, and 31.<\/p>\n<p>They do have young players that can help them facilitate a trade, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davion Mitchell<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jaqueja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaime Jaquez Jr<\/a>., and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jovicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jovic<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wareke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kel\u2019el Ware<\/a> is a young player as well, but we can assume he is among the untouchables because of his play at the end of the regular season. If we take what Pat Riley said face value, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/herroty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Herro<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adebaba01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bam Adebayo<\/a> are the two key guys he wants to build around. As for their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/09\/possible-giannis-trades-fantasy-basketball\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">trade targets<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/marcstein.substack.com\/p\/all-the-latest-around-the-nba-buzz?utm_content=buffer18704&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=email-post&amp;r=3shtjf\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Stein<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> will be a top priority. In his latest Stein Line, he said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Heat are frequently forecasted as a team, along with Minnesota, expected to show trade interest this offseason in Phoenix&#8217;s Kevin Durant. What sort of clues Riley drops clues about his team-building approach in the wake of a 37-45 campaign and painful first-round playoff sweep inflicted by Cleveland will be of prime interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since Durant is on an expiring contract and is an aging he could be available for a discount price. Miami&#8217;s slew of draft picks and solid young talent could make them a realistic suitor for Durant. Whether they land a star like KD or make improvements around the edges, expect big changes for the Heat this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featured image: \u00a9 Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pat Riley has spoken and said the obvious. The Miami Heat will go through deep changes this offseason. Riley said it loud and clear during his end-of-season press conference. They will not bring the same team next season. Let\u2019s talk about potential new additions and who is safe on the team. Pat Riley Makes The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":138774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,16,62,3],"tags":[1010,69,419,1896],"class_list":["post-138761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-heat","category-nba","category-news","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-kevin-durant","tag-pat-riley","tag-tyler-herro"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138761"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138777,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138761\/revisions\/138777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}