Q: Ira, so If you feel that the Heat’s 10th-place position is based on 10th-place talent and not on Erik Spoelstra (and now four straight years in the play-in), the blame must fall at the feet of Pat Riley. – Joel, Plantation.
A: Or at the feet of an institutional mindset of refusing to step back to step forward. Say what you want about the personnel moves of Pat Riley and his staff, but also look at how almost every elite contender has been built, as in with lottery-level talent, players picked at the top of respective drafts, players such as Cade Cunningham (No. 1 overall), Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (each a No. 3), Evan Mobley (also a No.3) in the East, Victor Wembanyama (No. 1), Chet Holmgren (No. 2), Jamal Murray (No. 7), Amen Thompson (No. 4) in the West. Now, in some cases, teams have traded up for such picks by moving off proven talent, so perhaps that is what Pat Riley and the Heat have to consider next. But this is more an institutional approach, one that transcends merely Riley, one that only truly can be set at the top, by the Arisons.
Man. that's kicking the can uphill. Beyond Stand Pat? He's the president of BASKETBALL operations. He's part-owner (20%) too. You gonna lay the blame at the feet of the Carnival owners????
