Pat Riley Won't Gut Roster For Donovan Mitchell, Other Free Agents After Lesson Learned Following 2011 Finals Loss

Shandel Richardson | May 22, 2024

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Heat team president Pat Riley recently flashed back to the summer of 2011.

It was days after the Heat were upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Despite having LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, they lost to the better team.

"We just didn't have enough depth," Riley said earlier this month. "I was talking to Chris and LeBron came in [in his office] and just pushed the door open and walked in. He said, `it's 12:30.' That was his time. He walked over to the window and opened up the blinds ... He sat down and just stared at me. He didn't say a word." 

It was then when Riley realized having three superstars wasn't enough. They also needed talent throughout the roster.

"I looked at him [James] and after a couple minutes, I just said, `I have to go to work on the roster and make it deeper,"' Riley said.  

So they added Shane Battier the following year, a move that helped win a title. And the next season, they signed Chris Andersen, Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Another championship.

Since, that has been Riley's thinking. Build around the talent instead of adding a star while thinning the roster. This is why the Heat are unlikely to give up too much when trying to acquire a big-name free agent like Donovan Mitchell this offseason. There are reports of the Cavs wanting Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jovic for Mitchell.

Not gonna happen. It would leave the them looking like that 2011 roster.

The Heat are indeed in need of another scoring punch but only for the right offer.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com