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ESPN's Mike Wallace wrote a nice article in which he discusses with Riley what has made him successful over the years as a coach and executive. He discusses the summer of 2010, his relationships with Wade, Bosh and Lebron and what is coming in 2014. Great read!

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/10717583/nba-pat-riley-sees-big-picture-miami-heat

My favorite quote is from Riley after talking to Elisburg in 2006 after the championship:

It was Dwyane and LeBron James and Chris Bosh and Amar'e Stoudemire and a bunch of other guys that signed their extensions and they're all three years with one option. And I said, 'Well, who are the other guys?' And he gave me the list. And I said, 'Well, we're going to be players in 2010.

You have to appreciate what Riley has done over 19 years with the franchise. It all started with Micky Arison giving the green light and sharing the same passion that drives Riley. You can't be any more optimistic for this summer knowing you have this man on your side.

Read the article not too long ago. I loved it. How is it possible that one man can be such a G

What if we drafted one of these players instead of Beasley in 08?

Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love
Brook Lopez
Roy Hibbert
Serge Ibaka
Nicolas Batum
Nikola Peković
DeAndre Jordan (picked after Rio)
Goran Dragić (picked after Rio)

HOLY ****

Mugiwara wrote:What if we drafted one of these players instead of Beasley in 08?

Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love
Brook Lopez
Roy Hibbert
Serge Ibaka
Nicolas Batum
Nikola Peković
DeAndre Jordan (picked after Rio)
Goran Dragić (picked after Rio)

HOLY ****

We wouldnt have been able to afford the BIg 3 in 2010.

So yea. no.

Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

SWadeUP wrote:We wouldnt have been able to afford the BIg 3 in 2010.

So yea. no.

Say we trade down in that draft. Or even if we drafted at 2nd, but picked Love or Westbrook?
[2nd pick salary in 2010: $4,962,240]

Record would've been pretty much the same because they weren't game changers back then, but I doubt Riley wouldn't have found a way to keep the 08 draftee had he shown enough promise, consistent growth and was less of a bonehead.

The interview says that 2010 FA was the plan all along, a good pick in the 08 draft only would've made us even more badass.

And how are you sure that we wouldn't be able to afford the Big 3?
Is your name Andy Elisburg and you are a cap guru?
Riley made the freaking best player in the world sign at a discount rate.
He made he's franchise player sign at a discount rate (and he entered the league later than the other two).
AND he made a guy who was the man sign at a discount rate while making him a third banana.

If Beasley plays up to his potential and we can sign Bosh, James, and Wade, you think it's because of $4,962,240 that we wouldn't be able to?

Vertical Limit wrote:Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

It was an hypothetical scenario only.

Pat Riley has made me a believer and I'm sure he'll make all the right decisions to ensure the longevity of this team. I really feel like the HEAT is the verge of something special not just in basketball but in sports overall.

Riley is GOD

Vertical Limit wrote:Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

I still can't wrap my head around this. I just don't understand it.

Whenever someone asks why the Big 3 will likely resign just give them 2 words... PAT and RILEY.

What other argument do you need?

Uhm, yes if we had taken westbrook or love with the 2nd pick it would only have cost us around 5 mil in 2010 to keep that player AND still have money to bring in the big 3. BUT how short sighted are some people? IF that draft pick was either westbrook or love, we would EVENTUALLY have to pay them big time money anyway. Therefore you could argue that we couldve picked love and therefore not have bosh. Whether u think love > bosh is up to u (we werent going to pick love with the 2nd overall pick) but point is, u either have wade, lebron and that draft pick or the big 3 with bosh. U cant have a big 4. Money just doesnt work. Especially with the harsh luxury tax rules implemented by the new CBA now, we can barely keep the big 3 together.

In 2008 it was almost a lock that the top 3 would go Rose/Beas/Mayo. All the names listed were not considered top-3 talent, so none of them were really in play. Really the best would have been a deal with Seattle for 4 & 24, but they were looking to amass talent, not trade up. They were really looking to pair. PG/C with Durant, so would have seen trading up as really just getting the ability to chose between Mayo/Westbrook - they would have jumped though if Beas went #1. We could have picked Love, Batum & still got Chalmers. That still could have worked, as Love and Batum would have been on rookie contracts when the big-3 signed.

For those thinking about taking Jordan instead of Chalmers: you're forgetting that we couldn't have signed Jordan through 2010 on a rookie deal, being a 2nd round pick. So he would have been due that pay raise the same year as we were looking to sign the big-3 (around Love & Batum).

It's doable, but the new CBA would have crippled us - the tax alone would be monstrous!

It'll be interesting to see what Phil Jackson can do with an even larger bankroll in NY, if Dolan let's him do it his way. I feel that Jackson might be too in love with the triangle to construct a championship calibre team in NY if he doesn't get the right personnel.

Mugiwara wrote:What if we drafted one of these players instead of Beasley in 08?

Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love
Brook Lopez
Roy Hibbert
Serge Ibaka
Nicolas Batum
Nikola Peković
DeAndre Jordan (picked after Rio)
Goran Dragić (picked after Rio)

HOLY ****

Only one I regret was D Jordan since he fell right to us. Otherwise Beasley was the right pick. Any other player we would have found a way to misuse the, just like we misused Beasley (Beasley also has his own faults)

Mugiwara wrote:What if we drafted one of these players instead of Beasley in 08?

Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love
Brook Lopez
Roy Hibbert
Serge Ibaka
Nicolas Batum
Nikola Peković
DeAndre Jordan (picked after Rio)
Goran Dragić (picked after Rio)

HOLY ****

Riley is not a good drafter or scout of young players. He also picked Cole over Parsons and refused to trade Chalmer and Cole for the Orlando center.

TRG wrote:Whenever someone asks why the Big 3 will likely resign just give them 2 words... PAT and RILEY.

What other argument do you need?

This theorem is about to be tested.

2015 draft class has some great point guards. If we do have to sign & trade Bosh or LeBron we should attempt to get meaningful first round draft picks.

Vertical Limit wrote:Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

Dude was a killer yhea. I think we misused him this year.. i mean how can you improve if you dont play? Im talking but i dont know what happened in pratice etc..either way he should have been played. Kid got game man..but this board have some kind of hate for him thats unreal.

Dupas wrote:

Vertical Limit wrote:Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

Dude was a killer yhea. I think we misused him this year.. i mean how can you improve if you dont play? Im talking but i dont know what happened in pratice etc..either way he should have been played. Kid got game man..but this board have some kind of hate for him thats unreal.

Beasley is not new to the league. He's a 6 year veteran working on his 4th stop with 3 teams. He has over 10,000 minutes of NBA playing time on his resume. The idea that a lack of playing time is stunting his development is ridiculous. People need to get over his performance at Kansas St. He isn't playing against college kids anymore.

Dupas wrote:

Vertical Limit wrote:Things happened for a reason and Beasley was rated as the #2 prospect on most boards, #1 on some of them. The guy was an animal in college, still holds several NCAA freshman records. The fact that he didn't translate his game to the NBA is his own doing.

Dude was a killer yhea. I think we misused him this year.. i mean how can you improve if you dont play? Im talking but i dont know what happened in pratice etc..either way he should have been played. Kid got game man..but this board have some kind of hate for him thats unreal.

The guy has had plenty of PT under Gentry and Adelman, two very good head coaches, and he wasn't able to translate his game to winning basketball. Adelman even once was quoted saying you can't win games centering a team around Beasley, and that's a huge knock on Beasley - a guy that had as much talent as Durant coming out of college.

So it's not Spoelstra, or Riley, or the Heat, it's Beasley, the guy is as much of a bonehead as Chalmers.

He is also a very emotional player, so many times during his first two seasons here Wade and Haslem has had to pick his emotions up, because when he plays bad, he goes through depression and you can see it on his body language.

I wanted Beasley over Rose, if we had the first pick overall I was hoping for Beasley all the way. So it's not like I'm some hater, I loved his game in college, but damn was I wrong about him.