MIAMI ā Pat Riley sometimes finds himself waking up in the middle of the night these days, turning on the television because heās unable to sleep.
This is when the president of the Miami Heat watches Garfield cartoons.
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Turns out, his young grandson Connor is a big fan of the lasagna-loving cynical orange cartoon cat, so Riley ā like many doting grandfathers probably would ā has become a bit of a Garfield fan as well.
āConnorās going to love hearing this,ā Riley said.
Hereās the part that Heat fans might love hearing: Itās in these moments where Rileyās mind is racing with thoughts about how close Miami came to a championship this season ā and what needs to happen to get it done next season.
Riley held his annual end-of-season review Tuesday, reflecting on a year like few others and insisting that if there is a way to get better this summer, the Heat will do it. Miami nearly missed the playoffs and had to rally in the play-in tournament just to make the postseason, then made its way to the finals as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
āAnother championship team, thatās my goal,ā Riley said. āI have no other plans other than to do that.ā
Retirement was not discussed during Rileyās 35-minute session with reporters; heās shown no signs of slowing down and thereās been no talk of any exit strategies for the 78-year-old who has been part of nine NBA championships ā three in Miami.
The Heat were involved in the trade talks over the weekend that ultimately resulted in Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause to go from Washington to Phoenix, a deal that's still awaiting final approvals from all sides and the NBA. And if Portland's Damian Lillard decides he wants a trade, it's a poorly kept secret that Miami would be more than willing to talk to the perennial All-Star and gauge his interest in joining the Heat.
Riley, by league rule, cannot talk about players under contract elsewhere. But his approach every summer is to find the player or players who can bring Miami closer to a title. That won't change this summer, and he doesn't think the current roster has to be decimated to make change happen either.
āWeāre not going to take a wrecking ball to this thing,ā Riley said, channeling the lyrics of his friend Bruce Springsteen, whom he quotes often. āGood times come, good times come. Hard times come, hard times come. Weāre not going to take a wrecking ball to a good team that had some real adversity this year. We had a good team, probably a great team. We wouldnāt have as gotten as far as we have, and thereās no caveat in any of that, if you werenāt a great team.ā
Riley raved about Jimmy Butler, who just finished his fourth season in Miami ā āhe's a whole different bag of tricks, let me tell you, and love him to death,ā Riley said ā and spoke at length about the continued evolution of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro from late-lottery picks to integral parts of the Heat plan.
There's a No. 18 pick in Thursday's draft to add, then free agency awaits a week later. If a move presents itself, Riley is ready to pounce. If not, he won't panic.
āPersistence and perseverance has been something that's been part of my life forever. Just has been,ā Riley said. āAnd patience is the last thing that came with it. And so, weāre going to show some patience here instead of react without knowing what the consequences could be in doing something. So right now, this is what we have.ā
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