Miami Heat president Pat Riley has never been afraid of thinking big and making bold moves.
So it was no surprise that at last week’s introductory news conference for Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP and longtime target for the Heat, Riley found himself talking about trying to add another multiple-time MVP.
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“I got a call about (the trade) after a month of discussion,” Riley said of the phone call with Heat general manager Andy Elisburg after landing Antetokounmpo. “The call came late, and he said to me, ‘We have a deal.’ He closed the deal, and we both sort of screamed out loud. Yeah, we landed the plane. There’s another one we have to land.”
On Friday, however, LeBron James decided against taking his talents to South Beach for a second time, instead opting to join the Philadelphia 76ers for his 24th NBA season.
Not landing James should not take away from what has been an incredibly strong offseason by Miami. The Heat gave up a lot of pieces to get Antetokounmpo out of Milwaukee, but they did so while keeping Bam Adebayo, the best player on their roster to start the offseason, out of the conversations.
They didn’t get James, but at the start of the offseason, that was not their focus. The Heat were focused primarily on getting Antetokounmpo to Miami. Reuniting James with coach Erik Spoelstra to form a new big three would have just been an unforeseen bonus.
“I hope I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth here, but you never know that you’re ever going to win a title until you win one. You’ll never win one if you don’t have the talent and the coaching to do it,” Riley said at Antetokounmpo’s news conference. “From that standpoint, this is a team that we have right now, and I’m happy with it. I think this is Spo’s challenge.”
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While Spoelstra will have to work through the best ways to deploy Antetokounmpo and Adebayo and put together systems that maximize them on both ends of the floor, the Heat front office will need to continue to add talent. With 12 guaranteed contracts on the books for the 2026-27 season, Miami still has three roster spots to fill.
James’ well-rounded skill set would have helped fill in gaps throughout the roster. He would have lessened the playmaking load on Antetokounmpo and Adebayo. He would have assisted with the spacing; he has struggled to maintain his consistency from deep over the years, but he is never ignored at the 3-point line. On the other end, James’ size and intelligence would have made Miami’s defense even more formidable.
Now, the Heat will have to look for all those things in multiple players, because few players in the NBA, — especially those who are still free agents more than three weeks into the offseason — can bring as many attributes to the table as James.
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In building rosters around Antetokounmpo for the first 13 years of his career, the Bucks always focused on trying to surround him with as much shooting as possible to make defenses pay for sending extra help to slow him down. After facing Antetokounmpo in three playoff series, the Heat understand Antetokounmpo’s gravity well.
“I think more than anything, it’s been his ability to force not a second defender, but a third defender, and that creates a bunch of havoc to someone’s defense,” Spoelstra told a small group of reporters last Thursday. “We lived it. One extra defender’s not enough. And then, you get a third one.
“His willingness and his improvement with his passing over the years gets you in scramble mode. You have to really be moving and be ahead of things. That part of his IQ and his vision and his playmaking, we’ll be looking forward to exploring that.”
But while that might scream the need for extra shooting to some, Riley recently told Dan Le Batard in a prerecorded interview released Monday that he views the biggest offensive need on the roster differently.
“Everybody talks about shooting; that’s not the main priority right now. It’s another playmaker,” Riley said. “Tyler (Herro) was great, Norm Powell — they can score at the end of games and get their own shots.”
From the free agents still on the market this late, the Heat are likely not going to find young legs. Instead, they will be looking at veterans like DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. Those veteran options are more scorers than playmakers. But if Riley is serious about adding more playmaking to the roster, the Heat will be shopping from a list of imperfect options.
Even if the failed final big offseason pursuit leaves a bitter taste in their mouths, the Heat’s summer still has been a rousing success. Now, they need to find a few more players to give Spoelstra more options for getting the most out of the roster in Antetokounmpo’s first season in Miami.