Miami Heat team president Pat Riley has insisted that he wouldn’t be able to adopt a strategy of multi-year tanking to obtain high Draft picks.
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With the Philadelphia 76ers seemingly prepared to remain in the basement for multiple years in order to build a young, talented roster in years to come, Riley doesn’t believe that it is a successful strategy.
The Heat recently traded two future first-round Draft picks to acquire Goran Dragic, with the 28-year-old set to earn a lot of money later in his contract.
While some may question the sense in that move, Riley is of the opinion that he needs to keep the Heat competitive as far as possible as tanking would ultimately drive him crazy.
“For me, it’s not through the draft, because lottery picks are living a life of misery. That season is miserable,” Riley said, according to Bleacher Report.
“And if you do three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I’m in an insane asylum. And the fans will be, too. So who wants to do that?”
While Miami finished with a 15-67 record back in 2008, Riley opted to push them towards mid-Conference mediocrity thereafter rather than sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference for too long.
The former coach then went on to sell the potential to LeBron James and Chris Bosh who joined Dwyane Wade, and the trio made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in their four years together, winning two championships.
While every franchise and every deal is different, it is clear that Riley won’t be adopting the Sixers’ way of thinking any time soon as he has previously promised this season that he aims to make Miami a powerhouse in the NBA again in the not too distant future.
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