Thread by @Lefty_Leif

My personal #HEATCulture fan state of the union address thread soon come. Find it right 👇.

Now is perfect timing before any transactional activity has taken place....

Let me start by saying that I will ride with Pat Riley until the wheels fall off of that wheelchair @mikescriba & @ChefTrillie are always pushing him around in on this app lol

By my view, this current Heat team is evidence Riley went against 3 things that have long been a staple to his team building philosophy. Those 3 things are
1. Flexibility until contention.
2. Always putting the acquisition of a star first on the to-do list.
3. His own culture.

In hindsight, Bosh's blood clot outcome was the universe's way of suggesting it was time for a full reboot. A true reset was truly in order. And initially the 1 yr deals given in summer 16 pointed to that reset. All was mostly tracking well. Even including the HW contract.

Flexibility remained, getting a star was still first on the to do list. all the way through the GH pursuit. Then Riley seemed to go against 1 of the main advantages #HEATCulture provides. The ability to maximize talent, at varying levels.

Instead of trusting Spo & frankly the culture to coach up the next JJs & Dions of the league or refine a player w/ a skillset like KOs on short money, He killed 1. flexibility & 2. didn't keep prioritize getting his star first.

So now here we are.

No star, and only one genuine avenue to really make this right. Riley said in his presser that 60 players were at between $18-25M & another 60 making $9-15M. 24+ teams unhappy looking to make deals.

Riley talked about his history of not sitting on hands. Reshuffling the deck multiple times. Always building. Always being active. Talked about how that won't change.

As a Heat fan whos seen it all. I'm not demanding a new ESPN Heat index by July or multiple mega stars by February. Im not saying fix the whole roster in one summer.

I say all that to say this.
Bron/Kawhi pipe dreams aside..
I can live with taking a shot on a Kemba or Derozan surrounded by a retooled cast.
I can even live with shedding Hassan, balancing the roster, letting Dwyane have a fairwell tour with major Bam,JRich, Justise PT.

I could even live with them making that difficult decision to sell off and have a couple lean years while owning our 2019 & 2020 picks.

What I cannot support, sugar coat or hope traffic is the notion that no activity or minor stuff like Hassan for 2 Blazer bench players & a resigned Ellington is acceptable. Especially if moves don't clear the logjam paving the way for the young players in the process.

I cannot support using an asset to shed salary to avoid the tax and that being the only move with the excuse being cap problems were the deterrent in clearing the logjam.

Acquire an all star, not even a superstar, take next step & 2-3 50 win yrs before next reset opportunity.

Or make tough call. Trade vets, take advantage of picks we own. Let the young players play.

Either Or is fine by me.

But standing pat? That's not Riles. Can't be.

/end