The Miami Heat miss out on Kevin Durant AGAIN. Has Pat Riley lost his secret sauce?

The Miami Heat miss out on Kevin Durant AGAIN. Has Pat Riley lost his secret sauce?

i would ask you this because uh the last time it felt like this around here is uh when the natives got restless because the last 15 years have been a real pleasure i can’t even imagine what it is to be a Patriots fan right now where you’re like look at what we had compared to what we now have the standard is such that it looks sad now it looked plenty sad when it was Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside and since then in the last eight years there have been a lot of swings and misses outside of Jimmy Butler in fact they used to just be a team that didn’t trust young players or develop young players like that’s something that came about in Pat Riley’s 70s he never It was almost Dan Marley out there in his late 30s because they just didn’t trust these players that they now refuse to give away right because Khil wear I think heat fans would tell you I’d hesitate there if all I’m getting is a year of Durant or I’m getting two years of Durant just because you can tell that at 20 years old he has a chance to develop into something that is obviously going to grow and is physically overwhelming uh but he has failed to get the acquisitions outside of Jimmy Butler that Jimmy Butler needed to take the next step here that’s not that’s not up for argument forget like getting the guys that are better than Jimmy he’s failed to get the guys that you can round out a roster with that make you better than the 10 seed they’re talking about Demar De Rozan now demar D Rozan was in play for Miami and he listed Miami last year you know what he did last year chose Sacramento it was Demar De Rozan you have guys like Seakum and Ojan and Obi making big-time contributions to their team in deeper runs these are guys that could have helped Miami it’s not just the big guys that Miami is failing at they’re failing at everything let me ask you this question though because I really do want to ask it because of course they lose today there’s no questioning that they are source of mockery ha the Heat missed again on Durant but I’m asking you legitimate like in terms of what you go into your off season with and you’re going to be in play for all five of the guys that may or may not be available you’ve already heard from their people all of that stuff is in play with five guys if I say that the priority from the beginning of the off season is Giannis and protecting all of the pieces that get you Giannis I understand why you were doubt that they could do that but if that succeeds then all of this becomes moot does it not correct does it not immediately become moot if a month from now they’re they’re we’re and I’m not saying you’re not right today you’re obviously right today they swung and missed again on Durant better better get a start on that if a month from now the entire free agency class is rounded out you’re going to get Giannis you’re going to give up most of your roster and all the picks to get Giannis what are you going to surround him with you’ve run out of time that’s the thing you need things around he’s been bouncing the first round a couple years already that’s why the timing was crucial to get Durant done now like get acquiring Durant doesn’t completely take you out of the Giannis thing either mike it’s it Wiggins and Rosir you send those contracts away like that you’re you’re dumping something on the Suns if you’re sending Rosir and Wiggins with your picks and you don’t have enough they were they they were all cool with that apparently and it came between where and Yoic and not wanting to include them and that’s a that’s a pro heat spin after the fact when the initial reports are we didn’t even want to invoke Haywood Heismith in the deal do you think the Heat believe that they failed in not getting Kevin Durant and the reason that I ask it like that is because based on this conversation we’re having like the Heat could have had him if they wanted include this guy which I don’t know to be true or not but that include this guy and you could have Kevin Durant and the Heat decided but what if that’s the guy you already know brings you Giannis what if you know that in that in you know that it’s not going to just be Duncan Robinson like where’s the piece it’s not even Hakez anymore it’s not Joic either that’s why I’m asking do they believe they they failed the the if the Heat have an asset it’s where right that’s who they wanted in for Durant and and the Heat low the whole offer the Heat did not give a credible offer to get Durant the microphone goes in front of your face it was in front of my face i just don’t understand moved it away from me well I guess I I guess I do understand why Heat fans keep thinking that it’s their birthright to be involved in these conversations with the superstar and naturally if the superstar says he’s interested in Miami like it’s been alluded to like he’s been cryptic like other people have reported that Miami is certainly in this mix but here’s what what’s happening with Pat Riley right now is he has a very proud reputation of being the guy that closes the deals he is the dealmaker he is this great architect of championship teams and lately he has failed repeatedly and if you want to pivot and say he chose to fail this time cool he’s been a finalist for a certain hall of famer at least four times that we know of and he’s never been able to secure this guy even as the asking price continues to go down even as Kevin Durant continues to still be a real good pro as someone that you even admitted Zaz would make this team better and I think you can absolutely say that it’s a failure if they were a finalist and they didn’t get the prize they failed so you’re saying though just to be clear I want to make it clear if it can be this clear if I give where to the Suns and get Durant I’m out on Giannis you’re good with that how many times are we going to say this i’m just asking the question how many How many deals did we pass up that could have made us better because we were going to get Lillard or we’re going to get Durant no get better and you still have some powder to try to get Giannis you still have draft picks there was only one draft pick in that deal i It’s just the Giannis thing needs to happen it’s not going to be one of those things that happens a month from now sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush Dan y that’s a good contribution Billy hold on just a second uh applause oh minor penalty two minutes for adding nothing adding nothing pat Riley did yesterday or he there is a bit of an obsession with the sports information people the information brokers in sports are now the you know most highly paid and famous of the journalists but there is different reporting on what was available for Kevin Durant and I would say if some of the reporting is right it would be insane for the Miami Heat to be unwilling to give up Jovic for Durant i just don’t know what to believe in the reporting because the reporting is is making it unclear to me because you’ve got different people saying different things and I haven’t made the calls yet to know but it would sound insane to me that the Miami Heat wouldn’t trade Jovic for Durant that that would be the stumbling block i don’t believe that did we believe Yoic was in the potential package for Damen Lillard like was he a name that was being talked about we thought back then so like we’re saying we believe that the Heat were going to throw in Yoic for Lillard and not Durant he’s younger i mean he’s more developed now here’s how the report went initially it was way worse and it was Sham’s initial report and as we know Shams is about as reputable a reporter in that sport an information guy and he’s right about everything moreover the one time the Miami Heat challenged him on this and Bernie Bernie Lee Jimmy Butler’s agent thought it was the mascot no no no jimmy Butler’s agent also made a big public show about going at Shams’s credibility and months later it was pretty evident who was right about that stuff it was Shams so this is how it went shams comes out invokes plenty of names that would make your skin crawl off the Miami Heat actually decided to not include a name like Haywood Heismith that was a Shams report and then the spin to Barry Jackson and that’s what I will dub it because it seems like damage control spin every time these guys now fail to get a superstar was that no no Highmith was in the deal it was Yovic and Wear those were the pieces that we weren’t willing to part with you say um Miami Heat spin but uh this isn’t exactly a leaky organization and uh they don’t really like it as no one would when any of their players are mentioned in trade talks like you you just underscored why it’s spin right because the leaks don’t come out and when they do it’s a concerted effort to craft the narrative i don’t agree with that because Dan is saying that the Heat doesn’t like when their players names are mentioned because it creates problems and now you’re saying that the Heat are actually going out of the way to say “No no no we weren’t including this guy too.” It’s not It Hold on it’s not crafting the narrative to if you think that Highmith is someone that you care about as a person and employee because he’s done what’s been asked of him here you might not want him to think that he’s just readily available to everybody like you might not want to insult him that way when you’re asking a great deal of him mentally and physically every day are you guys I’m serious like are you guys foolish are are you fools are you fools to think that these players won’t feel like their names are being brought up in in trades because the Miami Heat haven’t leaked their names as if other aggregate accounts and other reporters aren’t invoking it do you do you really truly believe that the Miami Heat can protect their players from having their feelings hurt because they themselves don’t leak the names are or is is this the logic that we are applying in 2025 but why after the deal is already done they’ve already lost out on this deal would they feel the need to say yes we definitely would have traded this guy and this guy and this guy how is that beneficial to them to save face and also that kind of nukes the original point doesn’t it that they don’t like these players names being out there but then Barry Jackson who was a great reporter does some digging and then the names come out anyways well yeah that’s the whole point right it can’t be both it It is both because then it serves it serves them because everyone is saying “What the hell are you talking about you don’t want to include a 28-year-old Haywood Highmith who went undrafted as if he’s this great project of yours he’s a finished product.” If we’re using logic here and I’m great with using logic why would anyone believe that the Heat would not include Haywood Highmith in a deal for Kevin Durant i’m sorry i don’t buy it because it was reported by We could keep asking it but I don’t buy it it’s It’s believable reporters are wrong sometimes i would know i’m a journalist the The Miami Heat The Miami Heat haven’t been able to pull out pull off one of these big deals in a long time they haven’t in fact the only big deal that they had been able to pull off in the last few years we’re not going to include Kyle Lowry because they got hit for tampering with that and we all know that deal was made months in advance of it actually happening was Jimmy Butler and by that point they had Philadelphia over a barrel so then Josh Richardson goes remember they could have had Jimmy Butler for that regular season run they didn’t want to include Josh Richardson in the deal josh Richardson so you have a huge resume building of the Miami Heat not being able to pull off these big deals why because they cannot part with guys like Josh Richardson uh Billy you were trying to get in there and there wasn’t quite room no it’s fine my candle i was just going to say you’re asking why it is the Heat would do that because like you have a fan base that’s now questioning whether or not the people running the organization are capable of pulling off trades and the decision they have to make is like well yeah we know what we’re doing still yeah Pat hasn’t totally lost it yeah he’s still the godfather yeah he’s doing this he’s doing that so instead they just throw out the names to kind of save face and if they have to hurt the feelings of some of their lesser players so be it what does totally lost it mean what do you mean what does totally lost it mean yeah what’s it it Pat hasn’t totally lost yeah he’s definitely lost that gravitas i’m not saying he has i’m saying people are wondering if he has it’s a fair question to ask you know who has it now bill Zto now he walks in the room now he walks in the room drops the rings and everyone thinks it was an accident they’re like “Hey come here here you dropped something.” By the way wow they start looking around oh make sure there’s no pills in there the dogs and kids could get those wow so that’s what we’re going to do now we’re not some people are doing that not us others are saying some okay so wait i’m I’m sitting in a room leard show last time I heard from him he was talking about some weird orb thing that he had in his hand in a 24-hour marathon we were all super confused very strange called amine amino acid i mean there is a case building here and thank you for that graphic on South Beach Sessions maybe I’m washed you guys are being really disrespectful you’re treating him like Joe Biden i mean he’s a similar age it was spitball back if he’s dropping something on the table is it his marbles the idea that you guys would now make it so that he’s in front of Durant and now nobody wants him to get on his hands and knees because he’s spilled the rings on the floor that they’ve just all fallen to the floor with clangs uh really disrespectful of of a man the door swings open it used to be him just like he his aura walks in now it’s like go sit over there Pat that’s where that’s where you’re sitting this meeting man that’s [ __ ] people are doing that we shouldn’t i don’t think it’s fair but some people are amino acid do you know that Pat Riley is basically the same age as Al Davis was when Al Davis pulled out the overhead projector and started going at Chris Mortonson and everybody was like “Man the game has passed this guy he is old.” Shouldn’t say the game has passed him by that’s not fair billy and Mike doing a disrespectful tap dance no a disrespectful tap dance on a man who until the Panthers existed recently is the only reason we’ve had any kind of winning in this town for 20 years uh because of what he built of the Miami Heat so I’m asking Zaz and Cody as caretakers for local uh reason and sanity mike and Billy are speaking for a lot of the fan base and being just generally frustrated what the Heat are always going to swing and miss now yeah i mean I I get the frustration but my point is look at what we just watched in the finals this league is different now man it’s not like the Phoenix Suns just got caught doing the thing where let’s just get as many superstars as we possibly can and we’ll figure out the rest look at those two teams last night especially Indiana like we could debate if Halleurn’s even a superstar period but then everybody else they got seven eight nine players that’s how the league is built now is you have to have a a really deep team the Heat give up all these pieces and now you have Adabio Hero and Durant well I already told you I don’t believe that all these pieces i got to say it again you’re also saying that you’d be fine with them doing that for Giannis and like Well yes so it’s the if the league has passed them by and they’re doing it wrong they do it wrong with Giannis and it wouldn’t work by your argument either yiannis a little bit better than Durant i’m on a limb if they got Durant yesterday you’d be all in on you you’d say it oh boy get out of here where’s the chicken come in here waving the flag hold on hold on where’s the chicken yells the EP i don’t have it hold on better not play it for me you’re such a fraud not me durant was a great deal let me tell you it’s a great deal great so good you can still go he hasn’t lost his touch that one has sounded stupid uh Billy speak for the Heat fan base in Well yeah in all people do think of me as the voice of the Heat fan it isn’t good he’s been the voice of reason all of your frustration you’ve been making fun of swing and missing no I have not i’ve said some people are doing so if I’m coming and I’m reporting the news to you as I have received it I’m a man that goes around i’m a man about town don’t fool anyone with that move some people are saying some fans are saying my word how so he is fooling people i’m not i’m telling you guys listen you guys you guys are up Pat Riley’s ass if we’re going to be honest with you you guys are not living in reality there’s a cavern up there that you guys are living in you can’t hear what the fans are actually saying okay i’m just telling you what the fans are actually saying here if you don’t want to hear it that’s fine but I can’t I can’t just lie to you i can’t make up news to make you guys happy about what’s going What is the proper amount of respect to have here because I’ve told you you have heard me over the last few years compliment ESPN a number of times on how it is they’ve treated Dick Vital and Lee Corso toward the ends of their televised careers it’s hard to do that in the uh in this business this business lacks a certain grace at the end it’s cutthroat and they speak for the fan base spoiled as it is by the relevance of the last 30 years that no one’s entitled to here since Pat Riley got here but that’s the standard and now it howls at his gate in a way I’ve never heard before billy’s not wrong all you have to do is look at social media which can be very brutal toward and against Pat Riley now I mean he is losing the faith of Panthers fans who or or Heat fans who who see who see what the Panthers are doing and and say “Why are we being left behind by a hockey team you know and but I don’t believe I don’t believe that they made a good faith effort for Durant.” I mean that that was a effort they made if they’re not even going to throw in you talk about Yovic U kell wear is the one obviously the bigger prize and then they’re only offering one first round draft pick but I don’t know what’s true i don’t know what’s true so the bad stuff we just don’t believe that yeah we don’t know if the bad stuff no the the not logical stuff is what we don’t believe right says you made the argument look at the NBA finals you need to have deep teams well I look at the NBA finals i see a team that traded Paul George to another team got a bunch of assets got guys like Pascal Seakum guys that Miami couldn’t get and I look at OKC and the whole thing about Heat Culture is they’re not going to tank seasons they’re not going to stockpile draft picks okay fine we did with the big three depleted our assets we made it back to two finals with Jimmy Butler doing it your way but right now the Miami Heat seem about as far from the top of the mountain as they’ve probably ever been because even that one year where they got the number two pick you still had a prime D wade they’re about as far as ever and everybody else’s way is looking better than Pat Riley’s way all right let me move on to what it is that we did witness last night okay because when I I remember where I was when you heard Kawawaii and Paul George going to the Clippers what is happening there are the Clippers getting in the game going to wrestle where were you wrestle the city i want to know where you were man i was at Los Roses was it a big thing it was a where were you moment we had a meal i was home say “Stop the presses.” Do you guys I did not say stop the presses why would I be doing that did you think I Did you think I was in a press room do you think I was in No you won’t tell us are you of the belief that I was at a printing press you were next to the wire right union worker the last time I heard Billy yell stop the presses is when he was reporting that Daniel Day Lewis was coming out of retirement he used the phrase stop the presses that’s why he’s back again i know he didn’t actually retire right who knew he retired exactly anyways where were you stop the presses sounds like he doesn’t remember where were you on that faithful night where were you dan saying stop the presses he doesn’t want to answer this question you just tell us where you were yes I was just lie i was at the Clevelander yes I could just lie thank you Roy but I do remember where I was and I I assume that that I didn’t think I was saying anything i know you guys were quick to seize there but when Kawaii and Paul George were traded I feel like a lot of people remember that that was a lot of picks and it was signaling a change that at the time I don’t think any of us had Hey and in a few years Paul George will not have gone very far and his body would break kawhi Leonard would have had his body break number of different bodies including one last night have broken during these playoffs in the pursuit of this thing and here’s OKC with the most valuable asset you can now have in the futurized elements of this league which is oh we can lock everyone in for seven years at a fixed cost where they can’t leave OKC because we can game the system by having all the picks and just create this frenzy because we’ve got an MVP and we’ve got a team that was actually too young to win the title like that that team was great and that team’s youth showed throughout all of that final as Mike sitting here pining for Seakum when none of us thought that was the heat standard when Seakkum was available no because everybody was doing the thing like we’ll get Bradley Beal instead okay but you guys were too good to even consider guys like Pascal Seakum because we were chasing an XL and and now you look smart on Anobi and you look smart with perimeter two-way players and yes the league changed and I will forgive an 80-year-old man who has revolutionized the way that the leagues change has gone from throwing in the post to the center uh to three-point basketball and then there was another shift here and they did not keep up by knowing that Indiana would be good enough with Seakkum as their second best player when I don’t think when Seakum went there that any of us thought it was that we thought that they would get better we did not think Indiana was a contender because they got Seakka it was also a different time in Heat history they were closer to the success of yester year and they they had found that their way of operating was the proper way i I understand why Miami Heat fans fell in love with the way that the Miami Heat do business up until very recently when it was probably time to capitulate and they probably went a season and a half two seasons too long it was the right way but now these are fair and accurate questions

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