Pat Riley on the Heat: ‘We need to retool’

Two championships. Four Finals appearances. It’s safe to say the first four years of the Miami Heat “Big 3” were a success. But if the Miami Heat want to continue that success, it’s gonna take a rampant change to the current roster.

“You’ve got to stay together, if you’ve got the guts,” said Pat Riley, Heat team president. “You don’t find the first door and run out of it if you have an opportunity. This is four years now into this era, this team. Four finals — it’s only been done three other times before — and two championships. From day one to the end, it was like a Broadway show. It sort of ran out of steam. And we need to retool. We don’t need to rebuild. We need to retool.”

“And that’s what we’re going to do.”

While it may sound easy for the Miami Heat to reboot for the next go round, there’s some work for Riley and Mickey Arison to do.

First on their list will be getting the Big 3 back in Miami. While each of the three have the opportunity to opt into next years contract, that same opportunity will allow them to test the free agency market. LeBron James is guaranteed to have the entire league chasing him. Chris Bosh will have a handful of suitors. Heck, even Dwyane Wade won’t go unnoticed in free agency.

Second will be convincing those same three to take a pay cut which leads to the third step: filling out the roster. Everyone on the Heat not named Norris Cole is a free agent–or has the potential to be one–this summer. That means the starting point guard and power forward position needs filling along with the entire bench. It’s going to take work, but if Bosh, James, and Wade take reasonable pay cuts that could allow the team to acquire a four star like Kyle Lowry.

Pat Riley is a telling man. He knows this team needs to improve and, obviously, isn’t afraid to say it. But that task may be much harder than it sounds.