Miami Heat president Pat Riley addressed the media Monday afternoon during his end of season press conference where he talked about a bevy of topics including back-to-back eighth seed finishes, contract extensions, and more. However, the standout points of information from the legendary executive and former head coach were made about Heat star Jimmy Butler and his comments after they were eliminated from the playoffs.
Butler missed all of the first round playoff series against the Boston Celtics as he suffered an MCL sprain in the first play-in tournament game against the Philadelphia 76ers. However, he would be on camera saying that if he was playing, the Celtics and even the New York Knicks would be watching the playoffs from their homes.
Let's just say that Riley wasn't a fan of Butler's comments, which is sure to bolster and fire up the rumors of a potential split between the two parties. While all that talk is pure speculation at this point, Riley was asked about the comments made by the Heat star and first asked if he was “trolling” or not and eventually said that he is of the firm belief that “if you're not on the court playing” then “you should keep your mouth shut.”
“For him to say that, you know, I thought, is that Jimmy trolling? Or is that Jimmy serious?,” Riley said. “If you're not on the court, playing against Boston, or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut and the criticism of those teams.”
Riley talks the rivalry Heat have with the Celtics
Riley knows the rivalry the Heat have with the Celtics as the two teams have met four times in the last five seasons in the playoffs, and even farther than that with the “Big 3” era. It even goes as far back as when the former coach had the role with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s where them and Celtics rivalry was at their peak as Riley talked about the history and even complimenting the current iteration.
“We've played, I've been involved in competition the playoffs against certain opponents during the day even since we've been here, I hate to use that word, but the competition gets so tough that you don't like one another,” Riley said. “And so we played Boston four times, I think in the playoffs since Jimmy has been here so you do develop some, some dislike for the other team. But they are this year, I think, the best team in the league, the best roster in the league, and made some great moves. Brad Stevens did a great job and getting Holiday and Porzingis, built their bench a little bit differently.”
Riley speaks on giving Butler a potential extension
The topic of Butler and Miami is at a weird point where some believe like The Athletic that his time could be coming up soon with the team and could request a trade. This speculation is just that at the moment with no true sense, but what is known is that the 34-year old star is expected to seek a two-year contract extension worth “worth about $113 million” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald as July 7 will be the first day he becomes eligible.
However, Riley wasn't quick to say that they would be extending Butler, saying that “we don't have to do that for a year.”
“Well, you know, we don't have to do that for a year and so we have not discussed that internally right now but we have to look at that and then making that kind of commitment,” Riley said. “Okay. And when do we do it? We don't have to do it until 25 actually, but we'll see. We haven't made a decision on it. And we really haven't really in earnest. discussed it. So we'll see what happens.”
If there was one point that was honed in throughout the close to 45 minutes Riley spoke to the media, it was the fact that player availability was a huge problem this season. He is 100 percent right as Miami ranked top five in the NBA in missed games from players and had a franchise record 37 different starting lineups.
Riley said there's a lot of factors in terms of Butler extension
For Butler, he was part of that as he played in 60 games this season, four less than the year prior. Riley was straight up about the contract extension and Butler, saying that it will be a huge decision for the franchise to “commit to those kinds of resources unless you're somebody who's really going to be there” every game, ending with “that's the truth.”
“Well, I mean, if you request we can either accept or we can say we're going to think about it,” Riley said. “We've not made a decision on it and I think you can make too much out of this. You still got two years left on the contract. Theoretically he's got a player option. But that's something that we have to give some real thought to based on a lot of factors. I don't want to go through the litany of factors right now because they all go up into different hypotheticals, but yeah, that's a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless your somebody who's really going to be there and available every single night, that's the truth.”
There's no doubt that the Heat have a busy offseason ahead as besides bolstering their roster with another possible star, they have to somewhat keep the foundation with Butler. They are looking to improve after a second straight finish as the eighth seed and losing to Boston in the first round.
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