NBA Free Agency: Pat Riley says Miami Heat were ‘shocked’ by LeBron James’ decision

While almost all signs pointed to LeBron James re-signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the days leading up to his announcement, Pat Riley says he was still shocked when James decided to flee the Miami Heat.

From the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

"“You recover. I don’t want to go back in history, but after 45 years of being in the league, I think I’ve been around 15 transcendent players that walked out the door . . . and you move on. We were shocked, but we recovered."

The feeling of shock might stem from the feeling that James misled the Heat about his intentions.

"“I went in with the notion that he was coming back. So I was selling it to players. I let him know that prior to free agency, that was the direction I was going. He never said to me, ‘Don’t do that.’ “"

Still, as Riley notes, the Heat recovered nicely after James’ departure. The team’s first move was to re-sign Chris Bosh to a five-year contract worth $118 million.

"“He’s the most versatile big man in the NBA. And that’s what the market was for him, and Micky stepped up to the plate. . . . I’ll be damned if I was going to let him walk out the door.”"

Miami also re-signed Dwyane Wade and added former all-star Luol Deng, among other signings.

The Heat might have been shocked by James’ decision, but they responded by having a near-perfect offseason following it. Miami almost certainly won’t be headed back to the NBA Finals next season, but Riley’s Heat are still poised to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.