Heat president Pat Riley is in the midst of his annual season-ending news conference. Please keep checking back for updates; we’re placing fresh quotes at the top.
It’s over
Riley went 1 hour and 6 minutes in the news conference, his longest in many years.
On Powell/Herro
Asked if Tyler Herro and Norm Powell can play together, Riley said: “They can co-exist if you’re playing the right style and have the right players around them. Norm played great for us early and then dealt with a lot of injuries after the All Star game.”
They played fewer than 20 games together this season because one or the other often was injured. Erik Spoelstra didn’t play them together late in the season.
Injury issue?
Riley said games played (injury history) will factor into the Heat’s personnel decisions.
“That’s the first thing I look at…. That’s why I love Bam. You can count on him every night. Looking at [a player’s] injury history and all of that stuff comes into play. You look at guys that don’t have injury histories. That comes into account.” Riley said injuries are a league wide problem, not a Heat specific issue.
What Riley will seek
Asked what he’s specifically looking for (besides an elite scorer), Riley said: “overall length. We will address that.” He mentioned that “shooting, ball-handling, those kind of things have to go to another level when you’re playing the game to a high pace.”
New practice facility
Riley said a new one is in the works. The Heat has practiced on an upstairs court at Kaseya Center for the past 20 years.
More on Adebayo
Adebayo is untouchable in trade talks, per Riley. (See below on that.)
On his offensive game, Riley said: “Bam has become a three-pronged scorer, has made leaps and bounds in his three-point percentage and [mid-range] game.” But he also noted that “his field goal percentage is the lowest of his career. It’s about efficiency.”
Riley knows more is needed
Riley said he feels no pressure to get a star but will try as hard as he can to get one. He said he’s “sorry that I used that damn word ‘whale’ a long time ago.”
“You need top end bucket getting talent in this league… We should try to make the best move we can make. We will try hard to aggressively pursue opportunities in free agency, at the draft. You have all summer to work on other parts of your roster.
“I’m not going to make a stupid move that’s going to saddle us for years to come and will have to pay to get out from under. We’ve always managed the tax extremely well. Andy [Elisburg] and I would count up the dollars at the end of the season. You don’t want to encumber your roster with players you can’t get rid of unless they’re really performing.”
He said he reads criticism of their young players and “nobody gives them space to make mistakes.”
Herro update
Asked about whether Tyler Herro will get an extension (he has one year left on his deal), he said he will speak to his agent but “we have to show a level of discipline in extending guys out.”
He said it was unfortunate that injuries limited to Herro to 33 games, and his foot procedure Monday will only keep him sidelined until July.
Riley said Andrew Wiggins ($30 M player option) and Norm Powell (free agent) told him they want to return.
Adebayo untouchable
Riley said Bam Adebayo will not be traded under any circumstances and nothing would tempt him, aside from eight first round picks combined with Victor Wembenyama (said in jest).
“I want to build this around Bam,” he said. “Micky [Arison], Nick [Arison], Andy feel the same way. I’m going to give you a flat out no.”
On playing two bigs together
I asked Riley if the team needs to get bigger and if he needs to tell Erik Spoelstra either to commit to playing Kel’el Ware with Bam Adebayo or does he need to acquire a proven, quality power rotation player to play alongside Bam.
“Kal’el and Bam, I like it,” he said. “You’ve got to be committed to it one way or the other. [Spoelstra] was up and down with it for a number of reasons. That’s where he is going to have, along with me, have a discussion how are we going to be successful with guys we have. Or why did we even keep them? You have to stay with it when young players aren’t performing at their highest and have bad games.” Riley also said the team needs to get longer.
Riley confirms he doesn’t have final say
Riley confirmed he doesn’t have final say on personnel decisions but said that has always been the case. He said he doesn’t have an “ego” that requires having final say and that he doesn’t want it.
He said he had “carte blanche” during his first 15 years on the job (1995-2010) because Micky Arison was busy with Carnival Cruise Lines. But Riley said “there were times he said no” to deals.
Now, CEO Nick Arison has final say; he has been in that position since 2012.
“If [GM Andy Elisburg] and I decide on something and the boss doesn’t like it, he says no, Riley said. “They own the team.” Riley cracked that he would like to own the team.
Riley said he speaks with Elisburg more than anybody. They create scenarios “and I rely heavily on his opinion.” Then they bring the ideas to people who own the team.
Riley on why he wants to stay in the job
Riley explained why he’s not retiring: “I love what I’m doing. I love the people I am working with. I love competition. I love this franchise. Don’t think I haven’t thought about [retiring]. I’m at 81 years old. I’m aging up. Micky or Nick [Arison] will decide whether I age out.”
Exceptions on the table
Riley again spoke of using the team’s exceptions, none of which can be combined. The biggest are a $16 million trade exception from the Duncan Robinson trade and a $15.1 million non taxpayer mid level exception.
“I’m encouraged where we are with the flexibility and the players that are out there that we know are available that we can pursue,” Riley said.
Surprising end
Riley said the Heat’s “dropoff” during the last 15 games of the season was “astounding.”
On diminished assets
Riley: “I don’t want to give up assets to [acquire] damaged goods. We like our roster.” That’s one reason why the Heat has been very selective in pursuing distressed assets.
Riley values Mitchell
Riley raved about Davion Mitchell’s competitiveness, noting that he nearly won the play-in game for Miami. “What a battler,” Riley said. “Davion Mitchell, give me that guy any day of the week. If he’s 6-10, he’s All-NBA.”
Riley likes Jovic
Despite Nikola Jovic’s struggles, “we look at Niko as one of our building guys. You all thought I had an absolute disdain for young players. I didn’t.”
Riley said he had Jovic as a starter on his depth chart before last season. The plan was a lineup of Adebayo, Jovic, Wiggins, Herro and Powell. He said his back injury contributed to “his nightmare season.”
Talk with Bam
Riley spoke with Bam Adebayo after the season and said Nick Arison and Riley and “everyone who makes decisions in basketball operations” are going to try to get Bam Adebayo some on-court help this offseason. “He deserves more help. I don’t blame him for being frustrated…. I sense his frustration… He knows that everybody who makes decisions are going to try to get somebody to help him… somebody who’s different.”
Why no changes at trade deadline?
Riley said he thought this Heat roster could have been competitive with any team in the playoffs except OKC and Spurs. That’s one reason why the roster was kept together at the trade deadline (after the team’s offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo was turned down by Milwaukee).
He said he didn’t need to trade players for assets because he thought this team had a chance to do something in the playoffs, though he admitted he didn’t view the Heat as a championship contender in early February.
An acknowledgement of roster
“We are going to be very aggressive. You can’t just say, ‘ive me a blueprint, Pat.’ I know we need to make some changes roster wise. We’re not good enough. We have an opportunity to do something with our flexibility.”
He said “I can’t control” injuries and “the lack of continuity.” But he said a player’s injury history will factor into personnel decisions.
Rozier fallout
After trading a first-round pick for Terry Rozier, why would the Heat settle for a league settlement of a 2026 second-round pick — and not make a big fuss publicly – when Miami was defrauded by Charlotte, which did not tell the Heat that Rozier was under investigation when the Hornets traded him to the Heat for a top-14 protected first round pick?
Riley said he doesn’t “want to go down that road” and had no role in how that was settled by the league. (According to a source, the Heat did not have the option of suing the league even it wanted to because of NBA rules.)
Plans to be aggressive
He said he will be “aggressive as hell to try to make the team better.” He spoke of potentially using four available exceptions, including a $15 million midlevel exception. He said “I’m not going to change. I’m not going to tank. I can’t stand the word.”
Is a change in approach needed? “It’s simply the same thing we did the last three seasons. We tried, more than you even know, to get better. We’re at a period right now where you don’t make radical changes right now. We’re not going to tank and do that insanity. I will quit if I get ordered to go down that road.”
No asset collection
He said he never would have traded anybody for an asset (draft pick) before the trade deadline because he wanted to go for it this year. He said even if a free agent leaves for nothing, there’s value in the flexibility and room under the luxury tax that would be created in those circumstances.
He said “I’m not going to apologize for being a play-in team.”
He said he sent all of the Heat basketball employees home for a week, but Riley stayed at the office and spent the week “looking at cap sheets. What we’ve done last 30 years is what we’ve done the last week, start preparing” for the offseason.
He said he’s glad the team executed the Jimmy Butler trade the way it did because “we have more flexibility, more assets.”
Opening statement
Riley said he’s not retiring or resigning. “I want another parade down Biscayne Boulevard,” he said.
He’s unhappy about the past three seasons.
“I’m pissed and disappointed, disgruntled just like everybody else in the organization that understands what we are about: winning. The last three or four years… has been something I’m not proud of, that we’re not proud of. We’ve always been a team that competes to win.
“If we are competing for the last spot in the play-in, we are going to fight to the very last breath.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 1:02 PM.
Barry Jackson
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.
