Pat Riley didn't want to 'give up' on Heat, but predicts 'this is a telling year for the team'

The Miami Heat finished last season 46-36 and, unlike the previous year, did not make a valiant run from the play-in to the Finals. In a memorable press conference after they lost their first-round series against the eventual champion Boston Celtics in five games, Heat president Pat Riley challenged franchise player Jimmy Butler to be more available and criticized Butler for talking trash about the Celtics. (Butler missed the series with a sprained MCL.) In the offseason that followed, Miami did not sign Butler to a contract extension, did not tear down the roster and did not make a major, all-in move. On Thursday, in an interview with reporters, including the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang, Riley said he wasn't prepared to hit the reset button in the summer but described the 2024-25 season as "crucial" and said it would be "telling."

"I wasn't comfortable in just saying, 'OK, I'm going to give up on this team this year because we're a play-in team,'" Riley said. "If you get in, you get in and then you go from there. Two years ago was an anomaly and we ended up in the Finals. I'll take the anomaly any day. But we do have a very good team."

Butler missed 22 games during the regular season before the MCL injury in the play-in. Tyler Herro missed 40 games. Terry Rozier, acquired from the Charlotte Hornets in January, appeared in 30 games but missed the final week of the regular season, plus the play-in and the playoffs, because of a neck injury. Rozier appeared in only 10 games with both Butler and Herro, and in only two after Feb. 7. If Butler, Bam Adebayo and Herro comprise the team's "core," then Miami only had its core on the floor in 27 games for a total of 499 minutes.

"We don't know about this team because you can't have Tyler and you can't have Bam and you can't have Jimmy play 30 games," Riley said. "So it would be like me saying when I was coaching that Magic [Johnson] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and James Worthy, well they only played 30 games. From that reality standpoint, we need everybody. I hope and pray that we can be healthy this year to do that."

Butler reportedly sought an extension at the beginning of the offseason, but, based on Riley's comments last May, it seemed unlikely the two sides would reach an agreement. Butler has a $52.4 million player option for 2025-26; until June 30, he can decline that option and, in theory, sign a two-year extension worth a projected $112.9 million, provided that the Heat offer him such a deal. 

"I haven't had a lot of conversation with Jimmy about it," Riley said. "I've talked to his agent at times. ... I don't have to sit down and have these meetings with [Butler] anymore. He's a very intelligent man."

Riley said that he "wouldn't want to" lose Butler for nothing in free agency. He also implied that, for now at least, he's OK with Butler effectively entering the season on an expiring contract.

"He's going to have the ability to opt and we're going to have the ability to extend," Riley said.. "So I'm trying to get all that thinking out of our heads because it's living in the present moment and playing basketball. So if there's something that's going to drag me down or him down because of that, then we're not going to perform at a certain level. But I think he's embraced exactly where he's at, I think he understands where we're at."

The night before Riley's media session, the 35-year-old Butler had 24 points (on 8-for-11 shooting), five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 21 minutes in a preseason victory against the Atlanta Hawks. "What I saw last night and what I hope to see in the future this year is somebody that has a chance to lead us to that place where we can play for it," Riley said. "That's all you want." It is unclear, though, what will happen if Miami remains in the East's murky middle or, worse, takes a step back. Butler, Adebayo, Herro and Duncan Robinson are entering their sixth year together; that kind of continuity is rare in today's NBA. 

"Six years, yeah, this is a telling year for the team," Riley said. "It should be. They've been together for six years. The core has been together for six years, they've all gotten better.

"Everything changes, I think, for the better with continuity and the fact that we believe in this roster. Does it mean that if we don't win this year or if we don't go deep this year, there are going to be massive changes? No, it doesn't mean that. But they should know that this should be a crucial year for them. They want to win. They've been [to the NBA Finals] twice, but they want to win."

Riley praised the Celtics and the New York Knicks for "going for it" with big trades and bigger payrolls. He said that the Philadelphia 76ers are "a little bit like us" as "they need to be healthy all year long." The Heat couldn't pull off a Damian Lillard trade in the summer of 2023, and their biggest additions in the summer of 2024 were veteran Alec Burks and rookie Kel'el Ware. (Caleb Martin left for Philadelphia in free agency.) Given the strength of the top teams in the conference, no one is picking the Heat to make it back to the Finals.

"But I believe in this team, I truly believe in these guys," Riley said. "Bam, Jimmy and Tyler, to some extent, maybe Terry have to be better. It's always about can you produce more, can you be more, can you be together more. I've seen the improvement. ... So I think we have a core of really, really great players who need to find another level of greatness. This is their time. So take the challenge."

Miami will play its final game of the preseason on Friday in Memphis. It will open the regular season at home against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 23.