Miami Heat: Fans should be confident in the team’s direction

The Miami Heat may have lost Dwyane Wade and failed to make the postseason, but fans should still feel good about the organization’s future.

At first glance, fans may not necessarily label the Miami Heat‘s 2018-19 run a success. After all, a 39-43 overall record isn’t exactly noteworthy; even less so when coupled with the fact that it landed the team tenth in the Eastern Conference.

(A LeBron James-less Eastern Conference at that.)

Of course, this also meant that they missed the 2019 NBA Playoffs after taking an unfortunate first round 4-1 exit to the Philadelphia 76ers last year and failing to clinch a spot in 2017 as well.

And then there were the various individual player narratives that made for a turbulent season, such as maximum contract big man Hassan Whiteside being moved to a bench role, starting point guard Goran Dragic missing a whopping 46 games and resident sharp-shooter Dion Waiters returning from injury streakier than ever.

In other words, it’s understandable why many are calling the Heat’s campaign mediocre at best. Still, it would be doing yourself a disservice to lose faith in the organization. In fact, president Pat Riley has some choice words for those who have done so: foolish.

"“Don’t be making any kind of conclusions about next year in that we’re stuck with certain contracts or whatever it is you think we can’t get out of,” Riley said in his exit interview, of the naysayers. “That would be foolish thinking on your part."

An argument that already has merit based on Miami moving Tyler Johnson off the books in a Feb 6 trade with the Phoenix Suns. Johnson, who had signed a four-year, $50 million deal in July 2016, was weighing heavily on the team’s cap, due to the so-called “poison pill” element to the contract; while the first two years of the guard’s salary were digestible, the last two called for the franchise to dish a total of nearly $40 million.

Riley’s confidence in his ball club moving forward isn’t just about being a master broker though. He also filmy believes in the power of The Culture.

"“Every now and then, I used to call it, you got to tighten the screws. If there is some slippage… Then you jot that down as part of your thought process about what needs to be changed. And there will be changes next year. Not a new culture, but to tighten the screws on a culture that sometimes erodes just a little bit.”"

Now while it’s hard to be sure exactly what screws Riley thinks need to be tightened, what’s clear is that he isn’t afraid to make whatever changes necessary to strengthen the franchise; assumingly even revamping the roster.

Currently, Dragic has a $19.2 million player option for the final season of his deal, which if he opts out of, makes him a free agent this summer. Similarly, Whiteside holds a $27.1 million player option, who would also become a free agent, should he opt out.

And then there’s Udonis Haslem, who has yet to decide if he wants to retire or not, despite becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1 (and having a Bird Rights clause, which would allow the Heat to exceed their salary cap to re-sign him).

The 2018-19 Miami Heat may have gotten stuck in a bit of a slump, but fans can rest assured that those days are soon to become but a distant memory.