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Pat Riley won’t apologize for Butler approach, says of Heat, ‘There has to be some change’

MIAMI – Forced into a trade in February, Miami Heat President Pat Riley spoke Friday at Kaseya Center of a more orderly approach to a potential next reset for his team.

But to address the future, Riley acknowledged he had to address the past.

So that’s where his 45-minute state-of-the-team session began, basically at the same place that became the focus a year ago at his annual media gathering.

Last May, in the wake of the Heat being bounced out of the first round of the playoffs, Riley shot down the notion of an immediate extension for Jimmy Butler, in light of the time the former All-Star forward routinely had missed.

Friday, Riley stood by that decision.

“I’m not going to apologize for saying no on a contract extension when we didn’t have to and I don’t think I should,” he said, addressing the first question of the session.

From that moment last May, it never was right again between Butler at the team, with Butler traded in February in the wake of three unpaid team suspensions.

“There’s no doubt that what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team,” Riley said. “There’s no doubt about it. The buck stops with me. I’ll take that, if you want it.”

The end result was a 37-45 record, 10th-place finish and first-round sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers by a record margin.

That had Riley on Friday hinting that the Feb. 6 trade of Butler to the Golden State Warriors was just the start of the latest of the franchise resets over his 30 seasons as the team’s steward.

“I think we do have to make changes,” he said. “There’s no doubt, there has to be some change. If you don’t win, you have to go about making changes to make sure you win.

“We’re gonna work really hard to find something to help this team.”

The degree of change, even in the wake of the franchise’s worst record in a decade, Riley said would not be a wholesale reset.

“It’s a process,” he said. “But I’m not going to deal with a long process, nor is ownership.”

While Riley spoke favorably of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro as franchise cornerstones, he also spoke of leaving no stone unturned.

“We probably won’t run it back,” he said. “But players aren’t just going to show up. You have to make deals. You have to look at the board. You got to try to do something that’s going to benefit something with your team and your two key guys – if they’re your key guys and I think they are – plus a lot of other players.”

But there also was a somewhat atypical cautionary tone.

“I think we’re probably in as good a situation from a draft-pick, young-player, favorable-contract situation as we have been in a long time,” Riley said, while acknowledging his team remains two years away from potentially becoming a team able to work with cap space.

While Riley said the personnel market likely will be “spontaneous,” he also said, “It may take years. It’s a process.”

As for a potential fast track, Riley did not rule out adding an aging veteran, with a leaguewide expectation of Kevin Durant, 36, being shopped by the Phoenix Suns.

“If that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, year, I think an aging player – look at LeBron – can help teams win championships. You have to pick out the right one, I’m not against that.”

There was a time when the Heat thought that player would remain Butler, who, at 35, instead plays on this postseason with the Warriors.

“It’s over,” Riley said. “He’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. And I hope deep down in his heart somewhere, he wishes us well, too.

“Jimmy’s situation wasn’t fun. It was ugly. But I don’t want it out there that I didn’t appreciate him. That I didn’t love this guy. Those things happen.”

But not deterring enough to sap, even at 80, the energy to again make things right, with Riley citing a meeting with owners Micky Arison and Nick Arison.

“Micky and Nick and I met. They’re been very good to me. They said, ‘Carry on Pat.’ And I’m going to carry on and try to make this thing matter,” Riley said.