Inside The Heat

Miami Heat's Pat Riley Receives Goose Egg In Award Voting For Third Straight Year

Alex Toledo|
Oct 23, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley addresses the crowd during the Pat Riley Court dedication ceremony at halftime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley addresses the crowd during the Pat Riley Court dedication ceremony at halftime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

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For a third straight year, Miami Heat team president Pat Riley received zero votes for the NBA's Executive of the Year Award.

The honor went to Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti, whose team won 68 games and earned the No 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Riley last received votes in 2021-2022 when he tied for fourth place with the Phoenix Suns' James Jones, who played with the Heat for six seasons. That was the season the Heat acquired Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker, Caleb Martin and Markieff Morris. Previously, he finished third place in 2019-2020, when they acquired Butler. Most notably, he won the award in 2010-2011, of course the season when they acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh while re-signing Dwyane Wade.

It isn't too hard to see a trend there.

Riley and the Heat's front office have been recognized after making what were considered to be franchise-altering acquisitions. Despite the huge unexpected success in the Butler era in Miami, fans had been clamoring for another star to go alongside Butler (and Bam Adebayo) for years.

In a way, the Heat's inability to close a deal on another co-star indirectly led to Butler's departure. It would have been much easier to go all in by giving Butler an extension.

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Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

NBA Insider Names Miami Heat Among Giannis Antetokounmpo Desired Landing Spots

Now that the offseason has commenced for both the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks after underwhelming seasons for different reasons, many around the league are wondering what Bucks' megastar Giannis Antetokounmpo is thinking about his team's future.

Appearing on the Zach Lowe Show, The Ringer's Howard Beck named a few potential desired destinations for the two-time MVP.

“Does Giannis ask out? If he does, does he have a list? I poked around a little bit a few days ago & the initial thing I got from one person was just like, some rumblings that it's already just the big cities," Beck said. "It's one of the LA teams or one of the NY teams, or maybe Miami, not big market, but glamor market, a mid-size market."

The Indiana Pacers eliminated the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Antetokounmpo is on the other side of 30 while co-star Damian Lillard is sidelined indefinitely after a torn Achilles in the postseason. The Bucks have limited assets to upgrade the roster and veterans Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis are impending free agents this summer.

Beck and Lowe had been discussing what Antetkounmpo's value could be for another contender like the Houston Rockets, whom they were originally speaking about, and how much teams should be willing to trade for the 2021 Finals MVP and six-time All-NBA First Teamer.

"So some of this is gonna depend on, does Giannis ask out? Because you're not gonna proactively just trade him, probably right," Beck said. "It's the Damian Lillard conundrum, where it's like 'Maybe we should've moved off of him sooner, but you can't trade Damian Lillard unless he asks to be traded. Oh he asked to be traded, so let's move."

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Alex Toledo
ALEX TOLEDO

Alex, who was born in Miami, is also a producer, co-host and reporter for the Five on the Floor podcast. He has covered the Heat and NBA since 2019 as a season credential holder. He studied journalism at Florida International University.